Leo Santa Cruz stopping Kiko Martinez in the fifth round
*Anytime you have two big fights being telecast on the same night on two different networks, it’s clear evidence that in spite of the naysayers boxing is very much alive and kicking.
First let’s talk about Leo Santa Cruz going against Kiko Martinez. This was a real barn burner folks as these two got together in the ring and from the very beginning Santa Cruz issued a statement with his fists by knocking down Martinez in the first round not once, but twice.
And in spite of that, Martinez came back with the heart of lion and kept moving forward reminding us all how “Smokin” Joe Frazier used to fight. Always taking so much punishment as he moved forward staying close to his opponent’s chest. But at the end of the fifth round of this fight, the referee called a halt to the bout thus saving Martinez from landing in the hospital, and allowing Santa Cruz to keep his record unblemished in 32 fights. This was all telecast live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on the Showtime Championship Boxing this past Saturday night.
You can always count on Santa Cruz to put on an exciting display of boxing every time he enters the ring.
And in case you missed it, on the other side of the country in Manhattan, New York we saw Terrance Crawford vs “Hammerin” Hank Lundy in a very exciting match that was also stopped in the fifth round when the referee called a halt to the bout when he saw Lundy being pummeled against the ropes by Crawford. Although this one started off very competitive with Lundy winning the first round, he proved to be no match for the very slick and fast southpaw from Omaha, Nebraska who improved his record to 28-0 with 20 coming by way of knockout. And this one was telecast live on HBO Championship Boxing
Terrance Crawford out slicks Hank Lundy
And we’re all looking forward to Adrien Broner vs Ashley Theophane April 1 at the DC Armory in Washington D.C., followed up with Pacquiao vs Bradley on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and on April 23 Gennady Golovkin vs Dominic Wade as this one is set to take place out at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. and will also be telecast live on HBO Championship Boxing.And before I forget, in what could turn out to be fight of the year, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is set to go against Amir Khan at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 7 live on HBO Pay Per View.
As I always say, we’ll see what happens.
‘When the tide goes out, that’s when you’ll find out who’s been swimming naked”- Warren Buffett
Mohammed Mubarak can also be read in the Pace news, and the High Desert Inland Valley News. He can be reached at [email protected] for your comments. He is an artist as well and you can feel free to go to his web site mubarakart.com, or go to mubarakart on instagram.
