By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Anthony Young entered the ring Saturday night with just seven knockouts in 22 professional fights.
Young’s eighth knockout was by far his most meaningful.
The Atlantic City native overwhelmed former junior middleweight champion Sadam Ali for two-plus rounds, before referee Robert Byrd halted their scheduled 10-round welterweight bout at T-Mobile Arena. Young hurt Ali with a left hook, followed it up with an overhand right that made Ali move back into corner, and Byrd stepped in to stop the fight a few seconds later.
Their bout was stopped at 2:38 of the third round. DAZN streamed Young’s upset win as part of the Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs undercard.
The 31-year-old Young improved to 21-2.
Brooklyn’s Ali (27-3, 14 KOs) lost by technical knockout for the second time in his past three fights. Mexico’s Jaime Munguia stopped Ali in the fourth round last May 12 to win the WBO 154-pound championship Ali had taken from Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto five months earlier at Madison Square Garden.
“New Jersey in the building,” Young said. “I had a tremendous camp. He had a great win against Miguel Cotto, but after that he fought Munguia. I thought he lost a lot of confidence with Munguia. I saw his fight against [Mauricio] Herrera [on December 15], and he couldn’t pull the trigger. So, when they offered the fight, I jumped on it. We’ll enjoy this victory now, and figure out what’s next later.”
The 30-year-old Ali was listed as at least a 12-1 favorite by most Internet sports books. The 2008 American Olympian looked lethargic and slow as soon as the fight started, though.
Young attacked Ali about 20 seconds into it, which seemed to catch Ali off guard. Ali held and tried to move out of Young’s punching range to fend off his aggressive opponent.
Following a strong start in the first three minutes, Young again was the better, busier boxer for much of the second round. Ali attempted to let his hands go with about 25 seconds in that round, only to have Young fire back with a right hand that landed to the side of Ali’s head.
Ali and Young traded left hooks just before the midway mark of the third round. A little later in the third, after connecting with a left hook to Ali’s body, Young landed the left hook up top that signaled the beginning of the end for Ali.
“I don’t want to say that he was over the hill,” Young said. “But I think a lot of the confidence was taken after he fought Munguia, after the Miguel Cotto fight. He was always moving backwards, and I knew that if I just applied pressure I was going to break him down. First couple punches, I saw his reaction to it, and I thought, ‘I got it.’ ”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.