Saul Canelo Alvarez defends his super-middleweight world titles from CMB Yes WITH against the obligatory provocateur of the first body, Avni Yildirim, in the main case of a DAZN card on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) won titles in four different divisions (junior middle, middle, super middle and light heavy), and now he has to get past Yildirim to fight again next month.
These are the results of the Álvarez vs Yildirim card from Miami:
In action: McWilliams Arroyo Vs. Abraham Rodriguez, 12 rounds for the WBC flyweight intermediate title
Forrest’s surprising draw with Zhang
Jerry Forrest fell three times in three rounds, but the weight came back. He resisted the attacks and early power of Zhilei Zhang and saved a draw that felt like a victory.
Judges Rocky Young and Fernando Barbosa called a 93-93 fight, and Rose Lacend gave it to Forrest 95-93. After the match, Forrest celebrated as if he had won, just before the scores were announced and made a backflip over the ring.
Zhang, who looked set to win easily with a big lead in the first three rounds, barely kept his record undefeated as what appeared to be an explosive fight at first turned into a hug party in the middle rounds, with Zhang (22-0-1, 17 KOs) and Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs), looking pretty disappointed from the sixth round.
Pacheco dominated Gómez Jr. by unanimous decision
Diego Pacheco wanted the elimination, but had to settle for a unanimous decision victory of 79-73, which was closer than expected for the 19-year-old against veteran Rodolfo Gomez Jr, in the super-middle.
Pacheco (11-0, 8 KOs) won several good shots, including some good superqualifications throughout the fight, but this was only the third time he reached the agreed rounds and the second he managed to get through the fourth round.
Gomez Jr. (14-5-1, 10 KOs) was a good test for Pacheco. He landed a few strong blows and was intermittently frustrated. It was also a good rounding job for Pacheco, who completed all eight rounds for the first time.
Marc Castro clears with authority
At the start of the day, Marc Castro was far superior to his rival and let his left hand pass over Jhon Moraga to eliminate at 2:29 minutes of the second round, in a fight agreed at four and to get a second victory as a professional.
Castro (2-0, 2 KOs) missed Moraga (1-3, 1 KO) three times in two rounds, ending the fight with a left uppercut. Moraga had an impressive 19-7 MMA career, including a shot at the UFC weightlifting title in 2013, where he lost to Demetrious Johnson. But those qualities were not seen in boxing.
Castro, 21, is just starting his professional career, but Ryan Garcia’s friend did the job without complicating himself.