Devon Alexander / Photo © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com

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Carlos Acevedo gives his thoughts on this past weekend's boxing action.  For more from Carlos, check out his blog, The Cruelest Sport.

Most observers thought that Devon Alexander would beat Juan Urango, but Alexander surprised nearly everyone at the Mohegan Sun by scoring a spectacular 8th round knockout over the durable Colombian. Urango had never been stopped before, and Alexander, until now, did not have a track record as a power puncher. Indeed, many of his combinations appear to fall into the pitty-pat category, but the uppercut he landed against Urango last night was like an RPG.

It was perfectly timed and executed. In fact, Urango was practically lifted into the air by the force of the blow. It is a testament to his will and conditioning that Urango was able to rise from the knockdown, but he was floored again seconds later by a right hook to the side of the head. A groggy Urango, now 22-3-1, again beat the count, but was in no condition to continue.

Alexander, who improves to 20-0, easily outboxed Urango early, but Urango continued to press the action, landed several hooks and body shots, and seemed to be closing the gap somewhat by the time the fateful eighth began. According to Compubox, Urango scored with over 40% of his power punches in both rounds six and seven.

Until the knockout blow, the fight seemed a little closer than the HBO broadcast crew--including Harold Lederman--seemed to call it. Lederman, so hoarse from rooting on the house favorite, nearly lost his voice during the seventh round, but continued choking and spluttering praise on the air lest he lose his opportunity to ham it up.

For Alexander, this bout was meant to be a coming out party, but for the HBO announcing team, it was more like a rainbow party. Max Kellerman, in particular, let his man-crush get the better of him throughout the broadcast. At one point, Kellerman sounded genuinely distressed that Alexander was getting hit fairly often by arcing right hooks. 

Alexander fought well and scored a concussive win, but he showed a few flaws that might give him trouble in the future. First, Alexander tends to stand a little too straight up at times; second, his defense, at least against a fellow southpaw, has a few holes in it; and, worst of all, from the standpoint of the viewer, Alexander barks incessantly when throwing punches. Alexander is obviously gifted (and will no doubt crash several harebrained P-4-P lists over the next few days) but let him string together a few more decent wins before he gets to HBO superstar status, where he will have the right to trounce junior lightweights for fat paychecks.

*****

Vic Darchinyan pounded unknown Rodrigo Guerrero over 12 rounds last night in Rancho Mirage, California, to retain his super flyweight gewgaws in one of several mismatches over the weekend. Darchinyan, who keeps goading Nonito Donaire into trying to knock him out again, has now had two freebies since losing a decision to Joseph Agbeko last year. If Donaire will not take the bait, Darchinyan will have to move on and face some stiffer competition.

*****

ESPN2 aired a show notable solely because its main event featured participants whose last named rhymed. In a worthy couplet, the veteran Martin Honorio/smacked up clumsy Wilton Hilario. Honorio, who scored two knockdowns, will probably be able to whip 12-0-1 fighters from Minnesota until he reaches his 70s. He boxed circles around his game but overmatched opponent from bell to bell in a bout that, like most, did not need to exist. Still, some websites have already slobbered over the fight. One outlet even went so far as to call this mismatch a "war." Since when are "wars" won by 12, 12, and 14 points? Lord have mercy.

*****

The Friday Night Fighs undercard featured heavy faves up against fighters who would probably suffer defeat after defeat in reenactment battles at Medieval Times or Appomattox. Professional losers and set-ups used to be dirty secrets in boxing, hidden on undercards or in high school gymnasiums in the Deep South, but now they are routinely shown on national television. This must be the boxing equivalent of "progress." To make matters worse, Bruce "Mouse" Strauss might have knocked out some of the woeful figures on the air these days. Guys like Lionel Butler, Bernardo Guereca, Luis Arcero, and Fabian Luque give tomato cans a bad name and are hazards to themselves every time they enter the ring.

*****

Watching Fabian Luque, human flotsam and jetsam, getting worked over by Mike Dallas is a reminder of how dispiriting the first two months of televised fights have been this year, but even more disturbing is the rampant cheerleading by the boxing pseudo-press for the mismatches and dreadful fights that dominate the sport.

Ninety percent of fights are made solely to further the agendas of promoters. Competition is a mere afterthought in boxing. But the disconnect between the mediocre product and its presentation is astonishing.

"Friday Night Fights" is the undisputed champion of smoke and mirrors. Fancy graphics, HD technology (so all the sadists out there can see, in hyperreal detail, the agony a tomato can goes through when he is beaten senseless) a simulcast on ESPN360, lots of shouting, guest appearances by folks like Eric Mangini and Shaquile O’Neal, and, of course, meaningless fights. All propped up by slobbery coverage from boxing experts who think that Russell Jordan can fight.

The New Jersey Nets are currently the worst team in the NBA. Is attendance suffering because they are inept? Yes. Have reporters been withdrawn from the New Jersey beat? Yes. Will anyone sit around pretending the Nets are tough customers? No. Do you see where this is going? If the Nets were covered by boxing writers--and the term "writers" is used loosely here--blazing headlines would accompany every loss, future Hall of Famers would be spotted on their patchwork roster with disturbing regularity, and multi-part previews on their chances in an upcoming game against the Los Angeles Lakers would dominate cyberspace.

This has been proven over the last few weeks by the absurd and fawning coverage of some of the mediocre fights aired recently on television. Top Rank Live and Friday Night Fights, somehow, have earned raves over the last few weeks from one outlet after another. How is that possible?

ESPN2, HBO, Showtime, and FSN/Fox en Espanol have aired roughly 44 bouts this year. Out of those 44 bouts, the underdog has won exactly twice, or less than five percent of all the bouts shown on national television. And these "upsets" were of the minor league variety featuring fringe contenders and clubfighters: Brinkley-Stevens and Rosado-Roman.

In addition, of all the fights broadcast on national television this year, only four had odds of less than 2 to 1 going in: Paredes-Hernandez, Johnson-Mack, Shumenov-Campillo, and Kim-Harris. So, if the outcome of a bout can be predicted 95.5% of the time, is it a sporting event? And, if so, why would it be worth celebrating? And what does it mean when you read about all the "great" fights, "wars," and "fantastic" matchmaking apparently flooding the airwaves?

*****

Rarely have locksmiths been so maligned as they have been since Lenny De Jesus took over training Joshua Clottey for his upcoming bout with Manny Pacquiao. De Jesus may not be Ray Arcel, but he has more credibility in boxing than many who sling a towel around their necks and say "Bing-bing-bing!" in the corner. De Jesus, a former amateur fighter, has been around boxing as a cutman, trainer, and second for over 40 years. That ought to count for something, especially in a business where few know anything at all about boxing.

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For more from Carlos Acevedo, check out his blog: The Cruelest Sport