Coming off his first professional loss to Timothy Bradley this past January, Devon Alexander rebounded (sort of) by taking a controversial split decision over Lucas Matthysse in a ten round Jr. Welterweight bout at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri.
Matthysse landed the harder shots as he featured the left to the body and right hands upstairs. In round four, Matthysse landed a perfect right to the head that sent Alexander down for the first time in his career. Alexander fought hard as he mixed up trading with the puncher and moving back to gain room to operate.
Matthysse fought very well in the second half of the fight by landing power shots and causing some tense moments for Alexander. Matthysse had a big round seven as he landed numerous right hands and body work. Alexander followed suit in round nine with some solid left hands of his own.
Both guys tried to impose their will in the final round but it was Matthysse who landed the better shots and even opening up a cut around the right eye of Alexander.
When the scores were announced, it was Alexander who had his arm raised by taking the fight by the scores of 96-93; 95-94 while Matthysse took a card 96-93.
Alexander, 139 1/2 lbs of St. Louis is now 22-1. Matthysse of Argentina is now 28-2.
Tavoris Cloud defended his IBF Light Heavyweight championship with a hard fought eighth round stoppage over Yusaf Mack.
Mack fought very well over most of the fight as he boxed and moved and stuck to his gameplan. Cloud got through with some good power shots that Mack took very well. Mack was actually doing well in the eighth round until he got caught with a left to the side of his face that stunned him. Cloud jumped on Mack and landed five shots that sent him to the canvas over the bottom rope.
Mack was up at referee Sam Williams count of six but was still very dazed and when he was asked to walk towards the referee, Mack stood still and fight was waved off at 2:57 of round eight.
Mack, 175 lbs of Tallahassee, FL is now 22-0 with nineteen knockouts. Mack, 174 1/4 lbs of Philadelphia is now 29-4-2.
Bermane Stiverne made his plea to call himself heavyweight contender with a one-punch knockout over former world title challenger Ray Austin in round ten of a scheduled twelve round Heavyweights bout.
Austin had success early with the jab as he used his 6’5″ height to his advantage. Stiverne rocked Austin several times such as in round two with a left hook as he looked for one shot to end the things. Austin was deducted a point after round three by lunging a shoulder in to Stiverne after the bell. Stiverne continued to land the bigger shots while Austin was looking to box by featuring his jab.
Stiverne was very effective in round’s seven and eight by working the body and landing some nice power shots. In the first minute of round ten, Stiverne missed with a right but connected with a big right that sent Austin to the canvas.
Austin barely beat referee Mike England’s count but the fight was stopped forty-four seconds into the round.
Stiverne, 238 1/2 lbs of Miami, is now 21-1-1 with twenty knockouts. Austin, 238 lbs of Cleveland, OH is 28-6-4.
Devon Alexander: “Matthysse is a rough and tough fighter. I brought the fight out in me because people had their doubts about my abilities as a boxer.
“The knockdown [first of his career] was a flash knockdown [in the fourth round]. I had to pull it out. I was having flashbacks from my last fight with Bradley, and I wasn’t going to lose two fights in a row. As a matter of fact, I’m never going to lose again.”
Kevin Cunningham: (trainer and manager of Devon Alexander) “I didn’t enjoy watching a rugged, tough guy like Matthysse in there with my fighter. I knew it was gonna be tough. I didn’t want to see my fighter trading with a puncher like Matthysse, but because of all the criticism he took after the Bradley fight, he felt he had something to prove in his hometown.
“I think when Devon reviews the tape of the fight, he’ll see that he was at his most effective when he was using his boxing skills to the fullest.”
Lucas Matthysse: “I gave it my all. It was a tough fight but I thought I won. Once again, I was robbed. He’s lucky he won the fight. I thought when I put him down, I’d finish him off but I couldn’t.”
Tavoris Cloud: “Yusaf Mack is a good fighter. I can’t take nothing away from him. I just caught him with some good shots.
“If you noticed, he was tiring down. I heard him breathing hard during the last three rounds. I was telling him, ‘You’re tired, aren’t you?’
“The whole game plan was to go to the body. He wasn’t hurting me. I knew he was a bouncy-bouncy guy, an in-and-out guy. I wore him down with body shots and took him out.
“Jean Pascal is here tonight. If he’s ready, I’m ready. I’m ready for anybody.”
Yusaf Mack: “He kept clipping me on the top of the head. I kept telling the ref about it but he only warned him once. The ref told me to stop holding him.
“I thought my plan was working well.
“The first shot in the corner dazed me but it was on the top of the head. The final punch was on top of the head also.”
Bermane Stiverne: “I knew he was going to try and box me but he often drops his right hand. I kept listening to his corner. Whatever they said, he did. So I started anticipating that. It became a big advantage for me.
“I was a little too lax but I felt good tonight. I was looking for the perfect shot instead of establishing my jab. The perfect shot did come in the 10th round. It was a short shot, a half-hook right hand that did him in.”
I’m on my way to my first world championship. I can feel it. I still have a lot to learn and I can get better.”
Ray Austin: “I was waiting ‘til he [the referee] reached eight [in his count during the 10th round]. In the dressing room before the fight, he told me as long as I am up by nine it would be OK. Then I got up and bounced around to let him know I was ready. So I got up at eight and bounced around on my feet to let him know I was ready and he stopped the fight. How many rounds do you think I won? [Austin was winning on two cards at the time of the stoppage.]
