Canelo Álvarez overwhelmingly defends WBC super middleweight belt
WBC super middleweight champion Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez rapidly dispatched Turkish contender Avni Yildirim with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of accurate, eye watering punching power, with a display of bamboozling bazooka fireworks,
Canelo`s gaudy ring entrance at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was punctuated with rap, zap, plus lots of flashes, bangs and flamethrower style flare ups, which took seven sizzling minutes. By contrast Avni ambled up to the ring alone.
When the fight started, both boxers were standing only inches apart. It was a style which was tailor made for Canelo to wreak untold havoc.
Avni held his gloves high and cupped them around his face. This didn’t help him, as he absorbed some hellacious rib ticklers and some head shots which precisely pierced his leaky guard.
Canelo, who feinted several times to seek openings, then went to town in the second round with a left and then a right uppercut, a left right combination, a left to the body and another pinpoint right uppercut. A solitary right in retaliation from Avni, provoked a left right to the head from Canelo, who was dominating, overwhelming and sweeping over the immobile, mesmerized Turkish challenger, like a tidal wave.
Again feinting to probe the access points to defense, Canelo who has deceptively quick hands, landed a long straight left to Avni`s face straight through his guard, and an even harder straight right, adhering to exactly the same coordinates. It instantly dropped Avni, who rolled on his back. But got straight up, out of fighting instinct, defiance and pride, although it was obvious he had been stunned in a similar fashion to receiving a high voltage electric shock.
Canelo then opened up and was momentarily surprised by a stiff counter left hook by Avni, so he upped the tempo with a left right combination, searing right uppercut and a big right hook to the head.
The punches seemed magnetized, Avni was not firing back very much and he was getting absolutely hammered.
Avni`s Coach Joel Díaz, who was witnessing his fighter being systematically, comprehensively, patiently and surgically dismantled, clearly saw the looming warning signs, and registered the clarion “Alarm bells.”
As Avni stoically and pensively sat on his stool, balanced between rounds and suspended reality, Joel warned him in no uncertain terms: “One more round! If you don’t show me something…I will stop you. I’m here to take care of you!”
But in the stark realization that in fact it was already over, Avni`s corner wisely prudently and humanely stopped a one sided drubbing he didn’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of pulling out of the bag…or fire!
Up next could be southpaw Brit Billy Joe Saunders in May. Likely is that Billy Joe, would do well to Billy bob and weave, to avoid this heavy, pounding artillery!
