This fight was a big, freaking deal. TV Azteca and Televisa were both broadcasting
it, since it involved two Mexican boxers on Cinco de Mayo weekend. This holiday is really celebrated more on
this side of the border for some reason.
Speaking of the border, Mexican commercials for this bout reportedly
showed Canelo and Chavez Jr kicking down a border wall to come to Vegas to have
this fight. I didn’t see it. This came from the newspaper, so I can’t say
whether it’s true, or just some agenda item they wished were true.
My co-worker, Mike, and his little boxing fan girlfriend,
Laiza, went to the fight. She “knows
people” and had a good, free ticket.
Mike declined to purchase one for himself (for several hundred dollars) and
would be watching her son at the hotel instead.
Regrettably, he didn’t send me any pictures of the weigh-in and other
Vegas locations. I was worried I
wouldn’t be able to see this fight, since Avalanche
Sharks was showing on the Comet network.
Yes, it was sharks attacking a ski resort . . . in the snow . . . as the
sharks “swim” in the snow . . . attacking skiers on slopes and girls in hot
tubs. Your imagination is not doing the
reality of this film justice. It’s more
dumber than can be imagined by anyone not involved in the production. Hey, speaking of dumber, was that Jessica
Simpson in the movie?
Luckily, this cinematic masterpiece ended right before the
fight. Unfortunately, I think I would
have been better off if Avalanche Sharks
2: Blood Blizzard had aired that night, and I could have watched that
instead. (Not a real movie, just
kidding.) I wouldn’t have wanted to have
wasted my ten minutes of research on this fight though. George Foreman was on an El Paso sports talk show for an interview
about the fight. Apparently, I missed a
good heavy weight bout last weekend (I was busy). Usually, I get a heads-up from Mike about
good fights. Oh, well.
The undercard fights took place at the MGM. The main event was at the new T-Mobile
Arena. (I hope the fans at the MGM at
least got a video feed of the big fight.)
I’m pretty sure Laiza wasn’t able to go to both, as there was no time
between events. I chose the TV Azteca
coverage, since I like their announcers better.
I found out later that the Televisa coverage was running a round ahead,
so I couldn’t go between them. The TV
Azteca guys sang along with the Mexican national anthem. (The producer really should have cut their
mics.) The American anthem was sung
afterward and amazingly, not boo’ed.
Canelo looked heavier, since he moved up in weight
class. (Ooops, that’s all my
research.) He was also sporting a
beard. Chavez Jr was taller with a
longer reach. (Canelo was usually
punching up, while Chavez was punching down.)
Canelo is now built like an offensive lineman and way bulkier than
Chavez. Canelo’s gloves also seemed
bigger than Chavez’s. Chavez was rather
fair skinned, while Canelo was downright pink.
Neither had a bunch of tats on them.
The crowd was heavily for Canelo. The TV coverage was also slanted (they showed
Canelo’s walkout, not Chavez’s), but not as much as usual for his fights, since
he was fighting a countryman. Michael
Buffer: “For the thousands in attendance, and the millions watching around the
world who wished they here: Let’s get ready to rumble!”
Round 1: I’m looking for Laiza in the crowd. She’s sat next to famous fighters at ringside
before. I don’t see her, but I’m sure
I’m hearing her screaming. Canelo and
Chavez feel each other out. I give the
round to Canelo.
Round 2: There’s a new Stalone Tecate commercial between
rounds. There’s also an epic commercial
for microwave popcorn. I had no idea the
product was so heroic. The crowd howled
as Chavez drove Canelo into the ropes briefly.
Chavez Sr was in attendance at ringside. He’s usually part of the TV Azteca crew, but
must have excused himself for this fight.
For his aggression, I give this one to Chavez.
Round 3: Canelo got in a good gut shot. Chavez was bloodied on the cheek, probably
from a hit that would later swell up his eye.
Canelo.
Round 4: I lost TV signal for a moment and panicked. Thankfully, it came right back. I flipped over to Televisa and saw a Trojan
condom commercial. It involved an
attractive woman with her lower half seemingly covered in translucent rubber. Canelo took some big swings. He knocked Chavez into the ropes, causing the
crowd to roar. Canelo.
Round 5: There’s another Stalone commercial. He’s in bed and awakened, sensing a guy in a nearby
restaurant who’s ordering some pansy meal.
Stalone rolls out of bed and is instantly in a tux and goes off to
confront the guy. Televisa seems to be
showing less commercials (and not overlaying onscreen ads during the fight),
but the commercials are pretty entertaining.
Canelo landed a massive right to Chavez’s head. He’s really starting to hurt him, and Chavez
is not able to do the same. Canelo.
Round 6: The guys start leaning on each other, head to
head. The ref has to break them up
several times. Fatigue seems to be a
factor for both fighters. Chavez put
Canelo on the ropes again, though not really hurting him. I give it to Chavez, since Canelo was too
passive.
Round 7: I was missing 10
Up. Thankfully, it was a rerun. Flipping over, I did see a commercial for one
of those hot chat lines. Chavez put
Canelo into the ropes, but Canelo came out swinging and drove him right
back. Chavez’s left eye was swelling
up. Canelo.
Round 8: Canelo again goes into the ropes and goes
turtle. Both guys are tired. I give the round the Chavez, since he messed
up Canelo’s hair.
Round 9: Chavez’s eye looks better. Canelo gets in a low blow. Canelo was back into the ropes and was
fighting defensively. The guys actually
wrestled for a moment. The crowd started
chanting, but I couldn’t tell what.
Chavez.
Round 10: The trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming comes on.
It’s translated as “Regresso a hogar?”
I guess they don’t have high school homecomings in Mexico . Canelo came out much more aggressive. The crowd seemed to be boo’ing. Maybe they (and myself) wanted him to finish
it. Canelo.
Round 11: There’s a mattress company commercial featuring
live bears, obviously well trained. The
guys danced and hit in the middle of the ring.
The crowd was all over the place in reactions: chanting “Canelo,”
boo’ing, screaming, whistling. Canelo
got in a good shot to Chavez’s head, but unfortunately followed it with another
low blow. There was a stoppage, but no
warning was issued. Canelo.
Round 12: The last memorable commercial. A guy with a flat bike tire used the right
deodorant and got picked up by a bus full of beach volleyball girls. Canelo again came out aggressive and put
Chavez into the ropes. He would leave
his feet taking big swings. The crowd
was roaring and boo’ing. Tellingly, they
weren’t standing and cheering. Canelo.
I may have been generous in giving any rounds to Chavez
Jr. The TV guy didn’t give any to
him. Foreman was afraid there’d be 12
round fight with a controversial decision.
Mike thought Canelo would finish him in the middle rounds. The judges’ decision, which was the only one that
mattered, unanimously gave it to Canelo, all with the same score.
Chavez Sr entered the ring right after the fight, but I
didn’t see what happened afterward.
Canelo did separate interviews with both TV networks. It went by too fast for me to have any chance
of figuring out what he was saying, but he wasn’t very animated, or even
winded. Canelo’s next fight is in
September against Golovkin. I hope
that’s that “Triple G” guy everybody is excited to see him fight. I’m willing to sit through one more bad big
fight before I stop watching for good, so let’s hope it’s a good one.
It was too late to call Mike after the fight, and Laiza
probably wouldn’t be really interested in talking about this fight anyway. Another wasted evening watching a boxing
match. I should have a press hard card
by now for covering all this boxing.
It’s the only reason I’m doing it.
It’s a prerequisite right? I
haven’t been wasting my time, have I?
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