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Broner vs Maidana results: Ricardo Alvarez gets questionable decision over Rod Salka

Ricardo Alvarez got his hand raised tonight against Rod Salka, but did he deserve it? Not really.

Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

In boxing, it pays to be famous, or at least connected to someone famous. That was proven again tonight in San Antonio, where judges saw a majority decision win for Canelo Alvarez's older brother Ricardo over Rod Salka on scores of 95-95, 96-94, and a completely ridiculous 98-92. BLH had it 97-93 for Salka, and Showtime commentators Barry Tompkins and Steve Farhood both had it 96-94 for the Pennsylvania underdog.

Salka (18-3, 3 KO) was largely able to outbox and outmaneuver the somewhat lead-footed Alvarez (23-2-3, 14 KO) over the majority of the fight, and though it's true that Alvarez landed the harder punches, or at least it's a safe assumption given their KO rates coming into the fight, Alvarez wasn't exactly throwing Salka off his game with those power shots. Salka outworked and outlanded Alvarez, and that's just a fact. He dictated the pace of this fight, he made Alvarez miss a lot, and he was the better boxer.

But it's not really any surprise that the brother of the famous guy got the nod. I think it's a stretch to have given Alvarez more than four rounds, but that's boxing. In boxing, "more than four is a stretch" can turn into "he won eight rounds" real fast, with justification lined up about "the harder punches" and "what judges prefer."

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