Saul Alvarez Stops Ryan Rhodes

 Saul "Canelo" Alvarez Stops Ryan Rhodes

Saul Alvarez completely outclasses Ryan Rhodes in front of his home fans in Mexico, scoring a 12th round stoppage. Credit to Ryan Rhodes, he showed he has heart by hanging in there for 12 rounds because he was getting a boxing lesson in every round. He was beaten in every department, everything Rhodes tried just wasn't good enough. Rhodes wasn't throwing enough punches and he was waiting far too long.

When he did let his hands go, it was mostly one punch at a time. Rhodes stayed in punching range too long as well, making himself an easy target, standing in front of Alvarez taking 4 - 5 punch combinations. Alvarez was too fast hand and foot. Most of Alvarez's combinations were excellent, mixing his shots from head to body extremely well. Alvarez looked very impressive tonight. This was the first defense of his WBC Junior Middle Weight Title.

I actually think Matthew Hatton gave Alvarez a tougher fight.

Alistair Overeem Beats Fabricio Werdum

Alistair Overeem Beats Fabricio Werdum On Points

A very close fight that didn't live up to it's hype. This was mainly due to the clash of styles between the two fighters. Werdum's striking was much improved, and he did land some good punches and kicks on Overeem. But Werdums main objective was to take the fight to the ground, but Overeem wasn't interested. Everytime Werdum went to the ground, either because of a failed takedown attempt, or by getting hit or thrown, Alistair Overeem just struggled free and walked away, making Werdum have to get up and fight!

At one point Werdum has begging Overeem to come to the ground but Overeem knew better then to give Werdum his best chance of winning the fight. Both fighters had some good moments but it was Alistair Overeem's supreme strength and power advantage that won him the fight. He was able to man handle Werdum and also had good control of the action when he was in Werdums guard by using his strength and weight to full effect.

Alistair Overeem Vs Fabricio Werdum

Strike Force World Grand Prix

Alistair Overeem Weighed In @ 256 - Fabricio Werdum @ 246

Will Alistair Overeem avenge the loss by Kimura (armbar) that he suffered at the hands of Fabricio Werdum at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in 2006. That was five years ago, and in that time Alistair Overeem has become a much more well rounded MMA fighter. He has improved immensly with his stand up, and his ground game is also very good. Overeem is without doubt one of the strongest heavyweights out there, and this helps him on the ground too. He is able to man handle most heavyweights because he is so strong. However, with his opponent Fabricio Werdum, Overeem is facing a guy who is just as big, standing around 6ft 4in, probably not as strong, but has a far superior ground game.

Fabricio Werdum is one of the most highly skilled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu masters in MMA today. If this fight goes to the ground, which it most probably will at some point, Alistair Overeem will have to try and use his strength to bull doze his way into a dominant position, or use that strength to get out of trouble. This is easier said then done against Werdum. We all seen what he did to Fedor Emelianenko.

Prediction: This is a close fight and both fighters are on great winning streaks, but Strike Force champion Alistair Overeem has evolved so much since he lost to Werdum that it's hard to imagine him losing on this ocassion. I believe Overeem will be too strong this time round and will smash Werdum into submission with some vicious ground and pound.

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Saul Alvarez Vs Ryan Rhodes

 Saul "Canelo" Alvarez Vs Ryan Rhodes

Saul Alvarez Weighed in @ 153.2 - Ryan Rhodes @ 152.8

Saul Alvarez takes on his second British fighter in a row by taking on Ryan Rhodes tomorrow night. Here we have a hot prospect in Alvarez, against a battle hardend veteran in Ryan Rhodes. Both have looked vunerable in past fights in regards to punch resistance, and both have good punching power, so this is an exciting match up.

The question is, who is at world level between these two? I think Saul Alvarez is the one that has the more skill and potential as a whole, and also the one that will go on to achieve a lot in boxing. But as mentioned above, he is a fairly static fighter who stays in the pocket long enough after throwing punches to get hit himself. He does get hit. Alvarez took many punches against Matthew Hatton  but luckily Matthew didn't have the power to trouble Alvarez. Ryan Rhodes does have that power, so if Alvarez gets caught with even half the amount of shots Matthew Hatton caught him with he will know he's in a real fight.

Alvarez does have home advantage in this fight, which counts for a lot when you consider that home advantage for Alvarez means 99.9% of all people in the arena are routing for an Alvarez win.

Ryan Rhodes is no joke, he is a tough test for Alvarez. Rhodes has matured like a fine wine, his early boxing career did have some set backs, but as he has gotten older and more experienced he has actually evolved and become a much more well rounded fighter. I believe Ryan Rhodes is at his best right now and if there's ever been a time when Rhodes was capable of mixing at world level and winning a world title based on skill, experience, and maturity, it's now.

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Amir Khan Vs Zab Judah

Amir Khan Vs Zab Judah

In my opinion, this is the fight for Khan to prove to everyone that he has what it takes to really mix it up with the top boxers of his weight class. Marcos Maidana was very tough, rugged, and hard hitting, but Zab poses other threats. I know Zab Judah is no spring chicken anymore at 33 (which isn't even that old), but he is still a seriously skilled boxer. He is, skill wise, still up there with the best, including Floyd Mayweather Jr. Zab does have some losses on his record but there mostly against big punchers that walk there opponents down. Baldomir and Cotto spring to mind. Khan's style doesn't really fit that description.

 A concern for Zab Judah is his stamina and will to win, which is the past has been questionable. We could see a different Zab though against Khan because he is now being trained by Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker. One of the best fighters of his generation. Pernell Whitaker trained Zab Judah for his fight against Kaizer Mabuza, and I know Mabuza isn't on Khan's level but Judah looked impressive in that fight, knocking Mabuza out in the 7th round to claim the IBF title. We could see a reinvigorated Judah against Khan, and if we do see a Zab Judah who is back to his old self, back to his best, Khan will have to be at the top of his game to stand a chance of beating Zab Judah. But can Zab get back to his best at this stage of his long and colourful career against top opposition like Amir Khan..

I think Zabs experience, southpaw style, slickness, defense, and accuracy could cause Khan some serious problems. I believe that if Floyd Mayweather Jr and Zab Judah had a rematch today it would still be points win for Mayweather, but only after a fairly close fight. Maybe this is because their styles are so similar in ways. Amir Khan and Zab Judahs style will gel very well, there both great counter punchers with very fast hands. This will be a fight that goes back and forth, the difference I believe between the two will be the will to win and stamina. Both of which I think Khan has the advantage.

Zab Judah has a tendency to fade and slow down in the champion chip rounds, and looks like he wants to be anywhere but in the ring fighting. Khan is the opposite, he has bursts of energy and determination late in fights. A concern for Zab is lately his opponents haven't been of the best caibre and he could come unstuck facing someone like Khan, who has been fighting the better opponents out of the two, and also regularly spars with Manny Pacquiao and other young fresh prospects. I fear Khan might just be a little too energetic for Judah, a little too much in his prime. Unless Judah manages to land one of his very accurate punches, then smothers Khan with some combinations, I'd say this fight is a points win or late stoppage for Amir.

I do think Khan will win this fight, but theres alway a chance that he will get caught by one of Zabs hooks or superb uppercuts. Although Khan did survive against Maidana it was still clear to see that when Khan's in trouble his boxing ability goes out the window. He was very lucky that the referee didn't stop the fight in the 10th round against Maidana, because Khan was out on his feet. Judah is a much more slicker boxer then Maidana. If Judah has worked on his stamina and is mentally in the right place, this will be Khans toughest test so far.