Devon Alexander-Juan Urango deal reached for March 6
by Scott Christ on Dec 31, 2009 4:15 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
19 comments
BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno reports that the rumors have come to a deal, and it looks like Devon Alexander and Juan Urango will meet on March 6 to unify 140-pound titles. HBO will televise.
Alexander (19-0, 12 KO) won the vacant WBC strap against Junior Witter in August, and that same month. Urango (22-2-1, 17 KO) won his IBF title against Herman Ngoudjo in January 2009, and after a step up to 147 to challenge Andre Berto, came back down for a successful August defense against big-punching Randall Bailey.
It's a hell of a clash of styles. Urango is powerful, but not especially one-punch powerful since his speed is such a detriment. He's rugged and I've never really seen him so much as dented until he fought Bailey and was knocked down, after which he took over the fight. Ricky Hatton and Berto were able to do nothing with him, though they did beat him handily.
It'll be interesting to see if Urango can even catch Alexander, who is quick on his feet and is top five in the entire sport in hand speed, in my opinion, up there with the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan. The kid has lightning-quick hands.
I get the early feeling that Alexander will use that speed, pop Urango from distance, and never really let Juan into the fight. Urango is a lunging, bull-rushing guy with as big a body as you can have at 140 pounds. He's a totally legit fighter, a fine titlist, and I like the matchup, but I don't like Urango's chances to win it. But that's why they fight the fights.
Don King (who promotes Alexander) mentioned a while back that he had a March date with HBO, and that Cory Spinks could be in the co-feature. There's no venue set, but King seems to have an absolute love affair going on with the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas, so I'm guessing he'll at least give that a long, hard look, but I won't be surprised if it just winds up in St. Louis, either.
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How will this fight be different than the Berto fight? I love me some Devon Alexander, but this is a dumb fight with an obvious winner. Devon needs to step up and, for the love of God and your career, leave Don King!
Alexander is smaller than Berto, I believe. I think he’ll win too, but I like the fight just because I like belt unifications.
Yeah unifications are great
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 1, 2010 2:06 PM EST up reply actions
I’m not trying to argue, really, but I never get why people get so excited about unifying meaningless titles, particularly since one of the now-unified sanctioning bodies will generally strip the guy who just unified belts when he doesn’t want to fight whatever ridiculous mandatory challenger they come up with.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
that's a fair point
I see it as a way to make the belts a lot less meaningless. If one guy has them all then it’s like there is only belt which is really how it should be.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 1, 2010 4:13 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t think I said that unifications “excite” me, given that they don’t. What I would say is that when undeserving fighters call themselves champions, it irritates me. Disorder also irritates me. Belt consolidation is nice because it makes the boxing world slightly more orderly and aesthetically pleasing, even if it’s only temporary. The aspiring belt consolidator will likely never reach his goal, but it’s a worthy goal and I can appreciate the effort even if I know it’s really just a game of whack-a-mole. When Bernard Hopkins held all four middleweight belts, it was cool. When Mike Tyson held all three heavyweight belts, it was cool. Ultimately, it shouldn’t be the most important priority in choosing fights, but unless there’s some reason not to try to unify against a particular fighter, I think it should be done.
Step up to what? He’s fighting a fellow titlist and a top ten guy in the division. He’s 22 with a lot of time ahead of him and plenty of time next year to see where he’s at. “A dumb fight”? How? He’s going to make the most money of his career and be on HBO.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Dec 31, 2009 4:40 PM EST up reply actions
Personally I want either Khan, Bradley, Hatton (if he can still make 140 which I doubt), Paulie, or Holt. I think all of these guys are more on the level of Alexander than Urango. The reason I consider it a “dumb” fight because Urango has obvious flaws and Alexander is perfectly suited to exploit them.
He’s perfectly suited to exploit Hatton, too. He’s still rising up the ranks and taking what is probably the toughest fight of his career so far. I agree he’ll beat Urango pretty easily, but it’s not like this is a terrible fight. It’s also pretty easy to see why they made it: good money, HBO exposure, tailor-made opponent who is also totally legit.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Dec 31, 2009 5:12 PM EST up reply actions
Mostly because I feel really bad for Campbell, I would like to see Devon v. Campbell. Its a stupid fight to make because the risk is too high and the money will not be there. I understand from a business point of view why they made the Urango fight, I just hope it will be more interesting than the Berto fight.
I think Devon would starch Campbell, too, but like you I’m really high on Alexander. I also think age and weight have taken their toll on Campbell. Bradley was making him look unbelievably slow.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Dec 31, 2009 6:17 PM EST up reply actions
Hard to say
Campbell usually starts slow and then gets into rhythm and turns it on. Did he look not so good in the first three, yeah, but in rewatching the Diaz-Marquez fight neither did Marquez. So I’m not so sure how much stock I can put in that little of a fight and being hampered by the cut.
It's still worthy of knowing whether he can fight disciplined enough to exploit those flaws
And hopefully to look better doing so than Berto and Hatton did. Berto had all the tools to easily outbox him in a decent fight as well, but he turned it into a stinky hugfest. I think Alexander can make it more exciting by fighting moving backwards and boxing from the outside. Then again, Ngoudjo tried the same strategy and got his jaw broken.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
His fight against Witter proved that point at least to me. I have little doubt that he can accomplish said goal….
Until Witter randomly quit
It seemed like Witter was starting to come on strong late.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Yeah
what was that all about? Injury?
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 2, 2010 6:49 AM EST up reply actions
If I remember correctly
The two arenas in St. Louis are already booked for that date, so the fight would have to be elsewhere.
Don’t count out the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida either. King has promoted a bunch of fights there, and Urango has a strong following there.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
yeah, with Warriors Boxing that would be easy to make
The Hard Rock I mean.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Dec 31, 2009 5:10 PM EST up reply actions
Well one thing for sure… Alexanders chin will be tested if he gets hit flush by him.
I love Urango… He is a freaking tank, no nonsense. No real skills expect sheer power. He will lose and get outclassed if Alexander is the real deal.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
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