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

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."