Alvarez wins by technical knockout over Yildirim
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez validated what was considered a foregone conclusion.
The prohibitive favorite, Alvarez took care of his ring responsibility Saturday night. Alvarez’s technical knockout victory over Turkey’s Avni Yildirim lasted briefly but
South Florida, at least for one evening, became the center of the boxing universe.
The native of Mexico’s bouts are events and headlining the first boxing card at Hard Rock Stadium attracted spectators beyond the sport’s hardcore base.
Simply being identified by first name or nickname, as in Alvarez’s case, is synonymous with needle moving.
The pro-Alvarez crowd, which was announced at the stadium’s limited capacity of 15,000, didn’t mind that the super-middleweight title fight ended after challenger Yildirim failed to answer the bell for the fourth round. Alvarez
making a local appearance proved sufficient satisfaction.
For the 30-year-old Alvarez, becoming one of the sport’s most recognizable faces also creates the proverbial bull’s-eye every time he steps into the ring. Yildirim, a 40-1 underdog, predicted an upset of Buster Douglaslike proportions. He talked about the support from his compatriots back home lifting him to the unexpected victory over Alvarez.
But Yildirim quickly learned that Alvarez doesn’t downplay opponents with the longest of shots. Yildirim failed to unleash the arsenal he predicted and became the latest stepping-stone of what Alvarez hopes will be a historic year.
“That happens with the majority of my opponents,” Alvarez said. “They throw a punch, it doesn’t land, I counterpunch and they feel it. After that, they’re scared of being hit.”
Midway through the third, Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) scored with a lead left jab and follow-up right
to the head that sent Yildirim to the canvas. Yildirim (21-3) quickly reached his feet but Alvarez pressed him on the ropes and landed additional combinations to the head.
Instead of allowing his outclassed fighter to absorb additional punishment, Yildirim’s trainer Joel Diaz instructed referee Telis Asimenios to stop the fight in the minute’s rest between rounds.
“I felt his power while blocking his punches with my arms,” Alvarez said. “I had to be aware of that as
well as head butts. Honestly, I fought as planned. But in boxing anything is possible and a punch can change everything.”
Alvarez established pace from the opening bell, peppering Yildirim with lead left jabs to the head and combinations to the body. In the second round, Alvarez shortened punching range and stunned Yildirim with left and right uppercuts.
“I came and did what I had to do,” Alvarez said. “I feel I’m at my best moment, and I’m taking advantage of it 100 percent.”
The selection of Yildirim as Alvarez’s opponent had its skeptics because of his two-year inactivity. Moreover, Yildirim lost a technical decision in his last fight.
Alvarez’s goal, however, is to unify all super-middleweight titles and sanctioning body politics factor in his aspirations. Mexicobased World Boxing Council recognized Yildirim as mandatory challenger. Alvarez retained his WBC and World Boxing Association belts with Saturday’s win.
“People want to understand what they want,” Alvarez said of the critics who objected to Yildirim landing the title fight. “They enjoy being against me. It is normal.
“I’ll just keep making my history and at the end of my career you will see the numbers.”
Now that he’s vanquished Yildirim, Alvarez said he will take a week off before resuming preparations for his next fight against World Boxing Organization champion Billy Joe Saunders on May 8. The title unification match was officially announced during a postfight news conference.
“He is a totally different fighter with an awkward, difficult style,” Alvarez said of Saunders. “We are aware of his skills. Plus, he’s a talker. But we are ready for all of that. I am very experienced and adapt to any style.”
In Saturday’s other bouts: McWilliams Arroyo won the WBC interim flyweight title by TKO when opponent Abraham Rodriguez failed to answer the bell for the fifth round; heavyweights Zhilei
Zhang and Jerry Forrest fought to a draw; supermiddleweight Diego Pacheco won a unanimous decision over Rodolfo Gomez; super-middleweight Alexis Espino scored a fifth-round TKO over Ashton Sykes; superlightweight Aaron Aponte won by unanimous decision over Harry Gigliotti; super-featherweight Marc Castro scored a secondround TKO over John Moraga; lightweight Keyshawn Davis scored a second-round TKO win over Lester Brown.
The pitch flew off Lewis Brinson’s bat and he immediately knew where it was heading as he began his trot to first base.
The dozen or so fans sitting on the grass berm in left field at The Ballpark in the Palm Beaches, meanwhile, scrambled to collect their latest piece of memorabilia.
His two-run home run capped a four-hit, fourrun start to the Miami Marlins’ first spring training game Sunday, a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros in seven innings.
“The first at-bat, you want to hit a barrel,” Brinson said. “I did that.”
Brinson has a knack for doing that in spring training. His goal is to have that preseason success continue once the regular season begins.
Brinson entered Sunday with a career .316 batting average in spring training and hit 10 combined home runs in each of his first three spring training cycles with the Marlins.
But Brinson is just a career .189 hitter in 252 MLB games with almost 100 more strikeouts (241) than hits (144).
Brinson showed steady
progress toward the end of the 2020 season, hitting .269 over his final 80 plate appearances with three home runs, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored while primarily hitting against left-handed pitching.
He gained more confidence that he anticipates will translate into results on the field.
“As a rookie, I was trying to impress everyone,” Brinson said. “This Lew has his own expectations . ... This Lew, this year and last year, isn’t worried as much what
other people think.”
TESTING AUTOMATED STRIKE ZONE
A speaker sat on top of the third-base dugout Saturday at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex and uttered two familiar words as the Miami Marlins went through batting practice. “Ball.”
“Strike.”
It was a test run of the automated strike zone, an experiment that MLB hopes down the road can help remove some of the
subjectivity and human error that comes with umpiring.
“I like it. It’s quick. You get it instantly,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who has previously voiced his support for the transition to an automated strike zone. “MLB had some phones that you were shown exact location of pitches . ... I think there will be kinks to work out, and as technology just continues to get better and better, I think it gets more specific.”
On hand in Jupiter on Saturday to keep track of the testing? Michael
Hill, who spent the last 18 years in the Marlins’ front office and is now serving as MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations.
Hill spent time catching up with Marlins members while on the field.
“It’s always good to see Mike,” Mattingly said. “Mike is more of a friend. Obviously things have changed from last year to this year. Glad to see he’s with MLB. I think he’s in a great position over there to continue to help grow the game and make it a better game.”
ROJAS’ TRIBUTE
About two hours before the Marlins’ first spring training game of 2021 began, shortstop Miguel Rojas posted a heartfelt tribute to the late Jose Fernandez on his Instagram account.
The post, in part, reads: “Wanted to take a minute and remember you today and say thank you for everything that you did for me and for being a friend since I got to the @marlins in 2015. One of my biggest goals is not to let [your] fire and legacy go out and remind everybody who was “El Caballo” every 5th day.”