Charlo: I Don’t Give a Sh*t What Centeno Did; I'm No Aleem!

Boxing Scene By Keith Idec

The last time Hugo Centeno Jr. encountered an unbeaten opponent, Centeno knocked him out with one punch.

Centeno cracked Immanuwel Aleem with a counter left hook that knocked Aleem silly in the third round of their August 25 fight in Miami, Oklahoma. Aleem fell to the canvas like a chopped tree and couldn’t continue.

That spectacular sequence made Centeno’s victory a candidate for “Knockout of the Year.” That dramatic victory also moved Centeno into position to fight for the WBC’s interim middleweight title March 3.

His opponent that night, Jermall Charlo, isn’t impressed.

“I’m no Aleem and I’ll let you all see that whenever March 3rd get here, that I’m no Aleem,” Charlo said during a conference call Thursday. “It’s a whole other ball game and when you face a Charlo, you’ve gotta be ready for power yourself. So I hope they’re ready for it.”

Centeno’s lone loss was a 10th-round technical knockout defeat to Maciej Sulecki in June 2016.

Poland’s Sulecki (26-0, 10 KOs) drilled Centeno with a straight right hand that dropped him. Centeno got up, but didn’t protest when referee Mark Nelson determined he shouldn’t continue.

The 27-year-old Centeno (26-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC) also settled for a no-contest against Julian Williams in September 2013.

Centeno suffered a cut near his left eye, caused by an accidental clash of heads with Williams in the fourth round. A ringside physician stopped that fight because Centeno indicated he couldn’t see properly.

Philadelphia’s Williams (24-1-1, 15 KOs, 1 NC) was ahead by the same score, 30-27, on all three cards when that fight ended inconclusively.

“I don’t give a sh*t what he did,” said Charlo, who knocked out Williams in the fifth round of their December 2016 bout. “I don’t care if he improved, how many miles he ran. I don’t care what trainer he switched to, it don’t matter. Whenever I get in the ring, they’re gonna see what I’m really made of and what I really come to do.

“I’ve been working my ass off since they didn’t give me no credit for the Heiland fight. I’m the best 160-pounder out there. They’re not gonna give me the credit until I keep whopping they ass, and that’s what I’m here to do.”

The 27-year-old Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) stopped short of predicting a knockout in a scheduled 12-round bout Showtime will televise from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“If he’s able to [withstand] this power, this speed, this athleticism, the glory that God gave me, then yeah, he gonna make it the distance,” Charlo said. “If not, I’m gonna hurt him real bad – real bad.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing. 

CROWN BOXING X LADARIUS MILLER "LEFT HAND PERSPECTIVE" COLLABORATION

Photos courtesy of Sean Michael Ham / CROWN BOXING

By Sean Michael Ham / CROWN BOXING

CROWN BOXING's design team linked up with TMT's young prospect Ladarius Miller to create a "Left Hand Perspective" line for his fight on the Garcia-Rios undercard at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The collab tee featured Ladarius' brand new logo freshly cooked up by Crown Boxing's lead designer Benny Limon.  The back of the shirt featured Miller's signature tagline "Left Hand Perspective" in red as the entire design was treated with our exclusive grunge inspired look across the shirt's graphic. 

CALEB PLANT SWEEPS ROGELIO MEDINA IN TWELVE

Photo courtesy of Juan Yepez / Premier Boxing Champions

By Crown Boxing

In what was supposed to be a night to test the Ashland City contender Caleb Plant for the first time in his career turned out to be no more than a pop quiz as the one they call "Sweet Hands" did all the schooling on Saturday night.

In what was billed as an IBF Super Middleweight title eliminator, Porky Medina once again stood in the way of a young hungry fighter ready to make his claim as the best the 168 lbs division has to offer. Medina has been used as a stepping stone for current or former world champions Badou Jack, James DeGale, David Benavidez and Gilberto Ramirez. This fight served to see if Plant was ready to add his name to the top crop of best fighters at Super Middleweight.  

As expected, Porky put on the pressure, willingly chasing his opponent around the ring looking to land something meaningful to earn respect. However, it was Caleb who played matador as he seemingly took Medina apart with counter and lead left hooks while peppering him with jabs the entire night. It was a masterful display of ring generalship as Plant cruised to a 12 round unanimous decision win that places him as in the #2 spot in the IBF world rankings. 

Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander fight to draw, but remain viable in sizzling 147-pound division

By Lem Satterfield - Premier Boxing Champions

Both former welterweight world champions are adamant they defeated each other in Saturday's showdown—but both are willing for a rematch, or to go down a different path in the stacked 147-pound division.

Ortiz vs Alexander Highlights: PBC on FOX - February 17, 2018

Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander are former 147-pound champions at similar points of career urgency. They entered the ring with a measure of desperation on Saturday night at the Don Haskins’ Center in El Paso, Texas.

Ortiz was looking to overcome his reputation of coming up just short in major fights, losing to Marcos Maidana, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and a rematch against Andre Berto, whom he had defeated earlier in his career for the welterweight world title.

Alexander had overcome a 25-month ring absence recovering from an addiction to painkillers with a victory over Walter Castillo. Both needed a victory to move into the circle to challenge 147-pound champions Keith Thurman and Errol Spence Jr.

After battling to a majority draw (114-114 twice, 115-113 for Ortiz) in the main event of Saturday’s FOX-televised card—in a fight that featuring no knockdowns, but plenty of action—it remains to be seen if either accomplished their goals.

“In my eyes, I thought I pulled it out. I thought I won in rounds, 9-3 or 8-4. It’s my first draw and it don’t feel good,” Alexander said. “A rematch would solidify who won, but I feel I can move on from this without that if I have to. I feel like I’m still in the prime of my career. I’ll fight anybody.”

Alexander (27-4-1, 14 KOs) landed the cleaner combinations throughout the early rounds, highlighted by right hooks, crosses and uppercuts that caused swelling around Ortiz’s left eye.

To his credit, Ortiz (32-6-3, 25 KOs) remained aggressive and determined down the stretch, showing no signs of quitting.

“Third round on, I started feeling that my pressure coming forward was making him back up and that I was neutralizing his speed,” Ortiz said. “I was making it tougher for him and landing a lot more punches. I thought I won the last half of the fight. At the end of the day, I strongly feel and believe that I won the fight.”

At worst, the duo remains name opponents for top contenders, if not, potential challengers for Thurman or Spence, who have yet to select opponents for their scheduled returns on May 19, and, June 16, respectively.

 “ I’d love a rematch with Devon Alexander. At the same time, I would love to fight Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman. Errol Spence, I’d love that one with another southpaw. Shawn Porter? Absolutely. Andre Berto? Definitely. We need a trilogy.  ”Former welterweight world champion Victor Ortiz

There is also former two-division champion Danny Garcia, winner of a ninth-round stoppage of ex-champion Brandon Rios on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“I would love to fight Danny Garcia. I see a lot of flaws in him that can be exposed,” Alexander said.

“I would love to fight Keith Thurman. He’s wide open when he punches, so he’ll get exposed, too. Errol Spence, absolutely, I’ll come up with a tremendous game plan for him. I'm sure they all believe they see flaws in me, also, so why not fight me?”

Where Alexander had lost three of four fights prior to Castillo, Ortiz had fallen in four of five bouts before stopping Saul Corral in the fourth round of his previous fight in July.

“I’d love a rematch with Devon Alexander. He’s a helluva fighter, I’m a helluva fighter, we put on a helluva war,” Ortiz said.

“At the same time, I would love to fight Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman. Errol Spence, I’d love that one with another southpaw. Shawn Porter? Absolutely. Andre Berto? Definitely. We need a trilogy.”

Ortiz, whose son, Royal, turned a year old last month, still has plenty to fight for.

“I’ve already been a champion, but at this point in time, I have a son, and I want him to know me as a champion and to be able to say that his Daddy is a world champion and not that he was a world champion,” said Ortiz.

“Everybody else is running, but I don’t run and I don’t hide from anybody. I’m having a good time with this sport. I’m 31 and I’m not done. I’m working hard to achieve that goal of becoming a world champion once again. There is a lot of fight left in me.”

For a complete recap of Ortiz vs Alexander, visit our fight page.

Caleb Plant Easily Out-Boxes ‘Porky’ Medina, Remains Unbeaten

Boxing Scene - By Keith Idec

Caleb Plant didn’t exactly excite the crowd in El Paso, Texas, but he boxed well and picked apart Rogelio Medina on Saturday night.

The tactical Plant peppered Medina with jabs, used his athleticism to consistently move out of Medina’s punching range and won their 12-round super middleweight match by unanimous decision. Each of the three judges credited Plant with a wide win (120-108, 119-109, 117-111).

FOX televised Plant’s win as part of the Devon Alexander-Victor Ortiz undercard from the Don Haskins Center.

The Ashland City, Tennessee native’s victory over Medina improved Plant’s record to 17-0 (10 KOs). Mexico’s Medina (38-9, 32 KOs) has lost three of his past five fights.

Medina, 29, was considered a step up in competition for Plant based on the level of opponents Medina has fought during his 10-year pro career. Current or former super middleweight champions David Benavidez, James DeGale, Badou Jack and Gilberto Ramirez all have defeated Medina.

His experience notwithstanding, Medina seemed sluggish a day after failing to make weight for their IBF 168-pound elimination match. He came forward from the opening bell to the final bell, though, because Plant couldn’t hurt him and Plant was content to stick and move his way to victory.

Plant’s plan was obvious in the first two rounds, when he mostly moved away from Medina and flicked occasional jabs.

By the third round, Plant seemed more relaxed and began throwing more punches against his plodding opponent. A right hand by Plant in that round drew blood from Medina’s nose.

Medina continued following Plant around the ring during the fourth and fifth rounds, and he didn’t have much success. Plant continued to control the action in the sixth round, until Medina landed a left to the body that made Plant hold briefly just before that round ended.

Plant fell to canvas after the bell sounded to end the seventh round, but because their legs got tangled.

A frustrated Medina often challenged Plant to stand and fight. Plant ignored his opponent’s taunts and stuck to his game plan.

Medina managed to land several hard head and body shots during the 11th round that slowed down Plant. The rugged veteran pressured Plant throughout the 12th round as well, but Plant moved, ducked and held his way to the final bell.

Following FOX’s broadcast of the Plant-Medina match, unbeaten lightweight prospect Karlos Balderas went the distance for the first time as a pro.

The 21-year-old Balderas (4-0, 3 KOs) clearly out-boxed Mexico’s Jorge Rojas to win a four-round unanimous decision, but he wasn’t able to put his opponent down. Balderas won all four rounds on each scorecard (40-36, 40-36, 40-36).

Balderas, a 2016 Olympian from Santa Maria, California, rocked Rojas with a right hand to the side of his head barely 20 seconds into their scheduled four-round bout. Despite that early difficulty, Rojas became the first out of Balderas’ four pro opponents to make it out of the first round.

He didn’t land many flush punches in the bout, yet Rojas showed Balderas that he won’t be able to tear through every opponent. Balderas landed a very low left hand that caused a brief break in the action with 38 seconds remaining in the second round.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.