By Thomas Gerbasi - Pablo Cesar Cano will one day be a champion. Call it a hunch, a gut feeling, a premonition. At just 21 years old, the Mexican junior welterweight has already shown enough talent, determination, and heart that it’s almost inevitable that one of boxing’s major sanctioning bodies will offer him a shot at a title in the future and that he will win it.
But last Saturday night was just not his time. Lost in the aftermath of a Victor Ortiz headbutt, some Floyd Mayweather payback, a Larry Merchant line for the ages, and another win for “Canelo” Alvarez was yet another performance by Mexico’s Grand Old Man, Erik Morales, which makes you wonder if any of us really know anything about boxing anymore.
It was that good.
Yes, Cano was coming in on short notice to face Morales after never having been within sniffing distance of a top contender, and if the original opponent that night, concussive punching Lucas Matthysse, was in the MGM Grand Garden Arena with “El Terrible” it may well have been a different end result, but in boxing all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘could have beens’ really don’t matter once the entourages leave the ring and the two men that matter fight. It’s what happens when that bell rings that’s important, and in Cano there was a hungry young lion who saw the opportunity of a lifetime before him to win a title and defeat a legend, and in Morales, there was the future Hall of Famer enjoying his resurrection as the unlikely comebacking hero. [Click Here To Read More]
But last Saturday night was just not his time. Lost in the aftermath of a Victor Ortiz headbutt, some Floyd Mayweather payback, a Larry Merchant line for the ages, and another win for “Canelo” Alvarez was yet another performance by Mexico’s Grand Old Man, Erik Morales, which makes you wonder if any of us really know anything about boxing anymore.
It was that good.
Yes, Cano was coming in on short notice to face Morales after never having been within sniffing distance of a top contender, and if the original opponent that night, concussive punching Lucas Matthysse, was in the MGM Grand Garden Arena with “El Terrible” it may well have been a different end result, but in boxing all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘could have beens’ really don’t matter once the entourages leave the ring and the two men that matter fight. It’s what happens when that bell rings that’s important, and in Cano there was a hungry young lion who saw the opportunity of a lifetime before him to win a title and defeat a legend, and in Morales, there was the future Hall of Famer enjoying his resurrection as the unlikely comebacking hero. [Click Here To Read More]
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