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Eric Morel and Leo Santa Cruz opened up the Showtime broadcast for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez against Josesito Lopez by standing in front of each other and simply punching each other in the head and body over and over.
The first round was a straight up back and forth war. Morel stood in front of his younger foe, trading leather and really mixing it up on the inside. Santa Cruz's combinations were a bit more crisp and he was showcasing some very impressive body punching from the open.
In the second round Santa Cruz appeared to be taking the fight over as he continued the thudding body attack.
LIVE ROUND-BY-ROUND COVERAGE
Chavez Jr vs Martinez
Canelo vs Lopez
As the attacks to the body piled up, Morel slowed. Never showing any signs of giving up, Morel continued to try to fight back but was simply outgunned by Santa Cruz.
In fact, Santa Cruz landed 277 of 509 punches for a 54% connect rate.
After the fifth round, a round that saw Santa Cruz really taking over the fight and starting to visibly hurt Morel, the corner of Morel called an end to the bout.
It was a classy decision by the corner as their man had given it everything he had and was not going to look for a way out so they made the call for him. He wasn't going to come back and win this fight and, at an advanced age for a bantamweight, he certainly didn't need to take a continued beating.
With the win, Santa Cruz advanced to 21-0-1.