GLENDALE, Ariz. – Two fighters, two different directions..
Welterweight Devon Alexander’s career crashed and Welsh featherweight Lee Selby continued to emerge Wednesday night in ESPN-televised bout on a Premier Boxing Champions card at Gila River Arena.
Alexander’s hopes at resurrecting his career after a loss last December to Amir Khan took a beating in losing a unanimous decision to Aron Martinez in 10-round bout as punishing as it was forgettable.
Meanwhile, Selby got the victory he needed in his American debut in scoring a unanimous decision over experienced Fernando Montiel in the first defense of his IBF title.
After it was all over, only one thing was certain. Selby’s career as an elite fighter is just beginning, despite a performance that he said fell short of expectations. Meanwhile, Alexander’s elite days are over and probably have been for a while. As a welterweight, Alexander The Great is ancient history.
For Selby, the victory over Montiel was the beginning of campaign to heighten his profile among American fans.
“But I didn’t perform the way I had hoped to,’’ Selby (22-1, 8 KOs) said after scoring a 119-109, 118-110, 116-
112 victory over Montiel ((54-5-2, 39 KOs). “Montiel as a very tough guy.’’
A Selby hope was for a performance that would have made him a worthy possibility for Loe Santa Cruz, the best featherweight on Al Haymon’s deep roster.
“If I had boxed the way I did a few months ago, I could beat Santa Cruz,”” said Selby, who won the title in May with a technical decision over Evgeny Gradovich in London. “But the way I boxed here, I couldn’t beat him.’’
Selby, who suffered a cut near his right eye, said he hopes his next bout is in the UK.
“Then back here in the U.S.,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Alexander’s immediate future appears t be some more of the same soud-searching he did in immediate wake of his loss to Khan.
“Consecutive losses are tough,’’ said Alexander, who displayed little of old quickness and overall athleticism in a 96-94, 97-93, 96-94 loss to the heavy-handed Martinez (20-4-1, 4 KOs). “But I still believe in my skills.’’
On The Undercard
The Best: Phoenix super-bantamweight Alexis Santiago (20-3-1, 8 KOs), the only fighter from Arizona on the card, overcame a few rocky moments in the early rounds, hurt Mexican Gustavo Molina (10-9, 4 KOs) in the seventh and survived a furious eighth for unanimous decision on the scorecards.
The Rest: In an ESPN3-televised bout, Robert Garcia-trained Ivan Redkach (19-1, 15 KOs), a lightweight prospect from the Ukraine, proved to be too much for Mexican Erick Martinez (11-3-1, 5 KOs) who was on his knees from a powerful left with 10 seconds remaining in the third and finished in a TKO loss at 2:59 of the round.
Buffalo cruiserweight Lionel Thompson (16-3, 10 KOs) scored a knockdown in the second round with a body shot that knocked the will out of Kentucky’s Thomas Hanshaw, who calls himself Hillbilly and called it a night before the bell sounded for the third.
Colorado flyweight Damien Vasquez (8-0, 3 KOs) remained unbeaten and hard to hit in scoring a unanimous decision over Francisco Lapizco (7-2, 2 KOs) of Mexico.
About three hours after high noon, Kevin Newman (4-0-1, 1 KOs) of Harbor City, Calif., opened the show with a unanimous decision over Jay Williams (3-8) of West Monroe, La., in super-middleweight matinee.
