Former junior middleweight titleholder Canelo Alvarez blasted his way into a middleweight world championship shot by annihilating James Kirkland by third-round knockout Saturday night.
HOUSTON -- Former junior middleweight titleholder Canelo Alvarez blasted his way into a middleweight world championship shot by annihilating powerful James Kirkland by thunderous third-round knockout Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.
With a wild crowd of around 40,000 cheering him on, Alvarez, Mexico's most popular active fighter, dropped the hard-charging Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) three times en route to a brutal knockout in the first fight of his exclusive HBO contract.
It was a pivotal win for Alvarez, who next will have a shot at middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on HBO PPV this fall.
Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs), Cotto and their promotional companies have already signed a term sheet for the bout, and representatives from Cotto promoter Roc Nation Sports were ringside.
Now Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) has to take care of his end of the business, which means retaining the title in his first defense when he takes on former titleholder Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) in what appears to be a dangerous fight June 6 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
via ESPN
With a wild crowd of around 40,000 cheering him on, Alvarez, Mexico's most popular active fighter, dropped the hard-charging Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) three times en route to a brutal knockout in the first fight of his exclusive HBO contract.
It was a pivotal win for Alvarez, who next will have a shot at middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on HBO PPV this fall.
Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs), Cotto and their promotional companies have already signed a term sheet for the bout, and representatives from Cotto promoter Roc Nation Sports were ringside.
Now Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) has to take care of his end of the business, which means retaining the title in his first defense when he takes on former titleholder Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) in what appears to be a dangerous fight June 6 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
via ESPN
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