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Mike CoppingerESPN
The quest for greatness continues for four-tournament champion Canelo Alvarez.
After defeating Caleb Plant by TKO in the 11th round in November to become the first boxer in a four-belt era to unify all the major super-middleweight world titles, Alvarez is taking on the heavyweight champion. heavyweight WBA Dmitry Bivol with the goal of unifying that division in the Future.
Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) has defended his title three times since being elevated to a full title winner in 2019. He’s tall and has the edge over Alvarez and has yet to lose one. no game since a defeat to light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk as an amateur nearly nine years ago.
Alvarez (57-1-1, 39 KOs) vs Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) headed a boxing match at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night (DAZN pay-per-view, 8 ET ).
Follow live as Mike Coppinger delivers results and analysis.
Next match: Marc Castro vs. Pedro Vicente Scharbaai, 8 rounds, lightweight
Results:
Zhilei Zhang def. Scott Alexander by KO first round
Upcoming combat summary…
Velazquez stops Soto to keep unbeaten record
Joselito Velazquez, an Olympic boxer from Mexico, continues his march towards a flyweight championship.
The 28-year-old used Jose Soto’s left hammer to injure the Colombian before referee Mike Ortega halted the match at 1:06 in the 6th round.
Velazquez (15-0-1, 10 KOs) twice won a gold medal at the Pan American Games. Soto (15-2, 6 KOs) has now lost two teamfights in a row.
Silva annoys Espino middle-class prospect
In a battle for the undefeated middleweight title, Aaron Silva scored Alexis Espino’s fourth-half goal.
Silva, a slightly underdog, hit Espino with a left hook, before a series of punches resulted in referee Celestino Ruiz stopping the match at 1:17 of Round 4.
Espino (9-1-1, 6 KOs), 22 years old from Las Vegas, trained by Robert Garcia and promoted by Matchroom Boxing by Eddie Hearn. Silva (10-0.7 KOs) is a 24-year-old player from Monterrey, Mexico.
Still to come:
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Combat title: Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol, 12 rounds, for Bivol .’s WBA “super” light heavyweight title
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Montana Love vs. Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela, 12 rounds, smaller division
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Shakhram Giyasov vs. Christian Gomez, 10 rounds, weight division
