Did you know that there were three sequels to the Magnificent
Seven? I was aware of a couple, but I
hadn’t seen them. (There was also a
short-lived TV show and a recent remake that disappeared into the ether.) Today, the Charge network was showing all four films. I watched all of the original masterpiece. However, during the first follow up film, I
had turn away to check on something else on the schedule.
The Stadium
network was going to be showing the undercards for the big Alvarez/Kovalev fight tonight, along with some commentary. Or, they would be. When I tuned in, they were showing a Men’s College Soccer match that had run
over. Credit to Stadium for sticking
with it to show a winner. (I think
Stadium’s Internet site went to the fight coverage.)
Colgate tied
the score late to force overtime. I’m
sure that’s what everyone tuning in wanted.
They would beat Navy, 2-1 on a penalty kick thus thankfully avoiding
double OT. The winning player tore off
his shirt, ala Brandy Chastain,
revealing his sports bra. I wish I was
making a joke here. I can’t un-see
this. I can’t even fathom why the guy
was wearing it. That couldn’t possibly
be fashionable. Could it? Oh, sh . . . oot! I have actually seen this somewhere else (7-7-19). A guy on the Mexican national team was wearing one. Why?
The boxing coverage was joined in progress. They were showing a pre-fight documentary
about Canelo. That was probably the part
I really wanted to watch. Canelo was
going to be moving up two weight classes for this fight. After that, they went to the MGM Grand arena and a couple of
hosts. They in turn sent it over to their
fight reporter.
Hey, it’s Claudia
Trejos. I haven’t seen her in
forever. Me and my fight-fan friend,
Mike, like her a lot. I finally got to
hear her in English. She called Canelo,
“Fat.” Okay, she said, he was fighting
at the heaviest he’d ever been.
Translation: fat. Claudia doesn’t
pull any punches.
“If you’re joining us for this, you are a true die hard,” said
one of the announcers. No kidding. There was no crowd there for the first
bout. The ref for the next fight was lounging
at ringside watching this fight. They
showed the trainers talking to their fighters between rounds (with occasional
profanity). You could even clearly hear
the trainers shouting instructions during the fight.
The next bout featured a 17 year-old fighter going against
a 32 year-old. Don’t feel bad for the
kid, he was bigger and taller. He needed
a note from his parents to fight professionally. He was also homeschooled, but was planning on
attending high school as a senior to go to the prom. Claudia asked him if he was more concerned
with finding a prom date or winning this fight.
The kid won the fight, though I’m not sure if that was the correct
decision from what I saw.
The last fight of Stadium’s coverage was the debut of Evan Holyfield, son of Evander Holyfield. Evan destroyed his opponent in seconds. He knocked him down and the ref immediately stopped
the fight. The other guy was nearly in
the act of running away when he was knocked down. With that, the coverage abruptly ended.
Meanwhile on the local CW affiliate, we had more soccer.
The El Paso Locomotive, in
their first year of existence, was deep in the playoffs. They won 3-0
over Sacramento to advance to
the USL Western Conference
championship. Impressive. The guys there had the bras on too. This is beyond my comprehension. (Just another reason to hate soccer.)
A couple of hours later, TV Azteca picked up the coverage.
Their hosts interviewed Canelo himself to start the show. Evander Holyfield was interviewed about his
son. “I never had one end that quick,”
he said. The first undercard ended quick
with a knockout. I missed it. I was still watching that Magnificent Seven marathon. The other undercard match ended way early
with a knockout as well that I also missed.
The coverage had to vamp for an hour.
They showed highlights of the women’s undercard match that I didn’t
see. The women beat each other to bloody
pulps before the ref called it between rounds.
After an interminable wait, it got worse. The Russian anthem took ten minutes. The cute Mexican anthem singer was checking
her phone waiting for her turn. Kovalev looked
taller and bigger. He was definitely not
a fan favorite there. Canelo looked
okay. He didn’t look fat. Canelo was trying to become only boxer to
hold four world titles in four weight classes with this fight, so there was
some historic significance to it. In the
break before the fight, Chris Evans (you
know MCU Captain America) was doing a Mexican commercial. He spoke in English, while the girl with him
spoke in Spanish. Not quite as weird or
good as those Sylvester Stalone Mexican
boxing commercials, but still weird.
Let’s get ready to . . . not say something that is
apparently trademarked, since they didn’t say it before this fight.
Round 1: Canelo was very defensive. His gloves were way up guarding his head. He landed a couple of hard shots. Canelo wrapped up briefly. I gave the round to Canelo. The commentators gave it to Kovalev. He got in more punches, but they didn’t hit
hard.
Round 2: Now Kovalev was hitting harder. Canelo got in one good combination. Kovalev
took the round definitely.
Round 3: Canelo was now swinging harder. Kovalev was a bit more tentative, but it was otherwise
more of the same. Kovalev.
Round 4: Both fighters were more active at the start of the
round. Kovalev wrapped up and looked a
bit tired briefly. The crowd was getting
unruly sounding. Kovalev. I’m not quite getting Canelo’s strategy of making
like a turtle and taking an occasional wild swing. This doesn’t seem like a winning strategy
against anybody. Did this happen because
I was watching? I have no luck in
watching good fights.
Round 5: The crowd was chanting for Canelo and then booing.
Kovalev wrapped again. I had Kovalev, though
he still hadn’t hit Canelo hard. The
commentators gave it to Canelo.
Round 6: There was
a low blow by Kovalev, but it was probably by accident. The crowd was chanting again. Kovalev was pushed into the ropes and wrapped
again. Canelo definitely. He got in a good
head shot.
Round 7: The announcers were sounding a bit desperate. Kovalev wrapped again and Canelo head-locked
him. Canelo got in another good head shot
after. Both of them wrapped up. The crowd was urging Canelo on as they both looked
tired. Canelo.
Round 8: Kovalev came out more aggressive. Canelo wrapped. In another wrap, the ref warned Kovalev about
a head-butt. Both fighters did some extended
dancing around. The crowd started booing.
Canelo was backing up to avoid the hits.
Kovalev.
Round 9: Kovalev got a good shot on Canelo’s jaw. Kovalev was warned again for a head-butt. The crowd was roaring. Canelo took another shot to the jaw, as the ref
kept having to break them up. Kovalev.
Round 10: The fighters started off wrapped up after a
couple of swings. There was another
warning to Kovalev on a head-butt. Canelo
got in a really good jab at Kovalev as he backed him into a corner. After, Canelo was just defending and not
swinging back. He got in a couple of
shots before end. I gave it to Kovalev
from the number of hits. The announcers
give it to Canelo, probably on that one hard hit.
Round 11: There were a couple of more wrap ups. Kovalev was warned about hitting back of
Canelo’s head. Canelo then turned savage
and cut loose going for broke. Canelo
hit Kovalev with left uppercut to the head.
Kovalev staggered momentarily. Canelo
wound up and fired a huge right into Kovalev’s jaw. The big Russian dropped into the ropes like a
ragdoll. There was no getting up for
him. The ref called it immediately. KO.
I would have liked to have called Mike, mostly to hear his
Canelo-loving girlfriend screaming with delight over the fight, but it was
midnight. (Daylight savings time didn’t
end until 2:00am.) The coverage kept
insisting it was live, but I had my doubts.
The post-fight interview was in Spanish and way too fast for me for me
to pick up anything.
Neither fighter really looked hurt (blood and black eye
stuff) afterward. During the fight, Kovalev
looked more tired, more often as Canelo wore him out. I guess I was wrong: Canelo did have a
winning strategy. It was a risky one
though. He pulled this one out of his
butt. The judges wouldn’t have given him
this fight on a decision the way it was going (not without a lot of
controversy).
Who could believe it?
I actually got to see a knockout in a big fight. Who knows?
I might even start enjoying watching fights.
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