Mayweather-Ortiz undercard results






Jessie Vargas (left) and Josesito Lopez exchange blows during their junior welterweight fight on the Mayweather-Ortiz undercard. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KOs) showed an impressive finishing kick against challenger Alfonso Gomez (23-5-2, 12 KOs), roaring to a sixth-round knockout victory after a series of uncharacteristically sluggish rounds. The referee’s stoppage seemed premature, but Gomez was concilatory if resigned. (“It is what it is,” he said.) The last of eight undercard bouts was simulcast from Staples Center in Los Angeles. Here at the MGM Grand, four HD screens descended from the rafters to give ticketholders an excellent view. (Here’s are close and wide views of the setup.)
Mexican legend Erik Morales (51-7, 35 KOs) stopped Pablo Cesar Cano, Jr. (22-1-1, 17 KOs) for the vacant WBC super lightweight title when referee Kenny Bayless halted the action between the 10th and 11th rounds. Morales, 35, overcame a slow start to find range with his jab — he landed 100 of 292 jabs (34 percent) compared to 82 of 368 for Cano (22 percent) — and later worked a large gash under the 22-year-old’s left eye that bloodied his face badly. With the victory, Morales became the first-ever Mexican fighter to capture titles in four different weight classes, though more than a few questioned the validity of the title — the WBC stripped Timothy Bradley of the belt a mere six months after he won it from Devon Alexander in the first major fight of 2011.
In the first televised bout, Jessie Vargas (17-0, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas escaped with a controversial split decision over Josesito Lopez (29-4, 17 KOs) of Riverside, Calif., in a 10-round welterweight fight. Lopez applied pressure early and seemed in control even before Vargas, a Floyd Mayweather protege, had a point deducted for a low blow in the sixth. Duane Ford (95-94) and Patricia Morse Jarman (96-93) scored it to Vargas, while Dick Houck had it 95-94 to Lopez. ”He was a hell of a fighter and I give him nothing but respect,” said Vargas, who landed 167 of 851 punches compared to 122 of 509 for Lopez. “I think I fell into his game plan a little bit, but my corner straightened that out by the end of the fight.”

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