The 30-year-old Green eventually caught Alexander with a perfectly placed left to the body that sent Alexander to one knee late in the eighth round at Casino Miami Jai-Alai. Green won their scheduled 10-rounder by knockout when Alexander failed to beat referee Samuel Burgos’ count.  

“Like I said before, man, I’m a dog,” Green said during his post-fight interview in the ring. “The plan was to box, but he caught me with a good shot, so I had to let him know, ‘Nah, you not just gonna walk me down.’ I had to switch it up and the result happened.”

Green (18-2, 12 KOs) is the WBA’s ninth-rated contender for its middleweight champion, Erislandy Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs). The Cuban southpaw is expected to defend his title against former junior welterweight and welterweight champ Danny Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) in his next bout, which would leave Green to test himself against another contender in his first fight of 2024.

Alexander Castro and his team called Saturday night for a rematch with Green, who beat Colombia’s Castro (14-1, 11 KOs) by split decision in his previous fight, an entertaining 10-rounder January 21 at Casino Miami Jai-Alai. Green noted that he fought through a nasty cut over his left eye and still defeated Castro on two scorecards (96-94, 96-94, 94-96).

“Listen, I told Don [King] whoever he put in front of me, I’ll beat him,” said Green, who has won six straight fights. “They put him in front of me, Castro, I beat him with one eye, easy. Anybody they put in front of me, I’ll beat him. I want a world title. No offense, he not a champion. I want the best. I want to fight names. I want a number one contender. If he miraculously wake up in the morning and he the world champion, of course I’ll fight him. But he not. I beat him. He’s in the past. I want the best.”

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