If you thought you’d seen it all in March you were wrong as April provided many more great fights and closed out with a deafening bang.
Things really heated up on the 20th when Canelo Alvarev eluded and picked apart Austin Trout to seize and unify the WBA and WBC 154 titles clearing the deck for a possible showdown vs Money Mayweather.
On the 27th, HBO teased us with a possible upset that wasn’t to be as the fast fading but still elusive defending champion Sergio Martinez managed to survive the valiant effort by Britain’s Martin Murray in far away Spain.
On the undercard of that telecast, unheralded Bermane Stiverne schooled former hwy title challenger Chris Arreola over 12 rounds and seize his title. On the same night on Showtime, Kid Chocolate Quillen brutalized the game but outgunned Guerrero into a 7th rd stoppage.
In he main event, veteran ex champ Zab Judah’s defied father time, and amped up the pressure in the championship rounds to almost stop and seize the belts from WBA/WBC champion Danny Garcia in a fight that will also be remembered for the drama between both camps b/4 the fight.
In far away German, former champ Braehmer crushed Averlant to retain his EU Lt Hwy title and in the main event on a loaded card in the UK on the same night, Amir Khan survived a tough challenge by Julio Diaz.
On the undercard Deontay Wilder crushed Audley Harrison in the very first round, forcing him to declare his retirement a few days later. Under the radar in far away Australia on the 28th, former multi-division champion James Toney lost a 12 rd decision to Lucas Browne while Kevin Johnson secured a win on that undercard..
Don’t believe anyone who tells you boxing is dying, instead punch them in the face and tell them about 3 days in April. You are also hereby advised to retain HBO, SHOWTIME, WEALTH TV etc as the all plan to deliver big in the next couple of months, so be forewarned to have your remote ready for great fights at all times.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
