AZ Front Row Magazine, Phoenix, AZ (2025)

09/08/2017

For You, Alexis short film review:

By: Albert Alvarez

Walking into the movie theater tonight, I just didn't really know what to fully expect. A big part of me felt really bad for what the Urbina-Ochoa family has endured. But then after viewing this very well placed together short film, I then felt truly inspired by their strength and unity.

The film is a lot more than a very sincere touching letter from big sister to younger brother that shared the same dream. All this may have began as a intimate tag team dream, but their dream is now much bigger and it now belongs to Alexis, Sulem, Andrews, Uli, family, teachers, film makers behind this project, and the entire Phoenix boxing community.

For You, Alexis manages to tug at all aspects of your emotions, that can bring you to tears in sadness but also in the immense courage and strength from the entire family.

The film is a emotional rolling coaster journey that keeps on going and reminds us all that life is a lot more than 12 rounds of battles.

But even with the advance warning, the viewer is scarcely prepared for the tragic emotional impact of the story talking to us all to tell us that the last bell of the fight can ring and continue to ring, but if you want to see out your dream, goals, or simply just to crawl out of that depression hole, we must all dig deep and keep on fighting.

07/11/2017

Miguel Berchelt vs Takashi Miura Fight Prediction

By: Albert Alvarez

This Saturday night at the Forum in Inglewood, California, vicious punchers Miguel Berchelt and Takashi Miura will slug it out for the WBC World super featherweight title.

Miguel Berchelt is on quite an impressive knockout streak with a 31-1 record that includes 28 big knockouts. Berchelt has not eye balled a decision since 2012. The power punching Berchelt is coming off a January big win over Francisco Vargas in a very exciting toe to toe shootout.

Berchelt fights out of an orthodox stance and his jab is a stiff pesky dagger that is employed to cause damage on impact instead of just seeking range with it.

Takashi Miura has a 31-3-2 record and like his opponent also has dynamite in both hands with 24 knockouts. Miura has gotten his hand raised in five of his last six fights, and he’s coming off a January win over Miguel Roman.

Miura is a very heavy handed Japanese boxer that fights out of a southpaw stance. Miura is a tough as nails fighter with a granite chin.

This clash is going to be a edge of your seat toe to toe fight between two offensive minded power punchers. So if you love action fights, this clash is a must-watch affair.

Picking a winner in this is tough since I feel that it will come down to attrition and will. I like Berchelt in this one since I feel he holds a slight edge in punching power.

It’s going to be a close fight, but I see Berchelt’s powerful combinations being a bit too much for Miura and will stop Miura inside of 10 brutal rounds.

06/14/2017

Andre Ward/Sergey Kovalev The Rematch Prediction

By: Albert Alvarez

Andre "S.O.G." Ward(31-0) and Sergey "The Krusher" Kovalev(30-1-1) will once again knuckle up to face off against one another in another superfight, this one is being billed "The Rematch".

This much anticipated rematch between these top five pound for pound fighters takes place June 17 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and will be for the unified WBA, WBO, IBF, and the vacant Ring magazine light heavyweight titles.

In their first encounter, Ward had to pick himself off of the canvas in the early going to then make key adjustments like better inside fighting to beat Kovalev down the stretch in a very close controversial decision win.

In looking at both fighters, I feel that each fighter just seems to have that one difficult style that will always trouble one another. Ward has the better close range fighting game and Kovalev is a better long range fighter than Ward, so fights between these two combatants will always be tight close fights.

So needless to say, I am expecting to see another close possible controversial decision win for the victor in this rematch clash. It will be very interesting to see which fighter will make the biggest recognizable adjustments to get some separation in those close rounds to secure the win.

Ward has got to get right at Kovalevs chest at the exact second off of the release of his jabs. I would also like to see Ward attack the body mercifully due to the fact that Kovalev appears to be extremely bothered and has to reposition his stance whenever his midsection is being hit.

As for Kovalev, he must fight at an arms length distance to give himself the absolute best striking opportunities. Kovalev also has to continue to use that long stiff jab that gave Ward fitts in their first affair. If I am Kovalev, I would employ my jab to also stab with it towards the pit of Wards stomach to help set up his killer right hand over the top.

This one is really really hard to call, for me the safe pick is to take Ward by unanimous decision. However, as I continue to study their first fight, I come away from it thinking that Ward can NOT box Kovalev any better than he did in the last six rounds of their first encounter. And here is the thing with that, even against an exhausted Kovalev, even then I didn't see Ward sweep those pivotal last six rounds.

Staying on Kovalev and his conditioning issues, Team Kovalev has this time around hired a Russian conditioning guru to make sure that the Kovalev gas tank is sitting pretty for the later rounds. Problem is that I believe Kovalevs exhaustion is of the mind. Ward has a chess boxing style that forces foes to think faster than they are used to, so it's not out of the question that Kovalev was and may be drained more so mentally than physically once again.

In saying all of that, I am taking Ward to outwit and outsmart Kovalev in a 7 rounds to 5 split decision.

05/27/2017

Brook/Spence Jr Rapid Fire Prediction

By: Albert Alvarez

The biggest & best fight for the first half of 2017 happens tonight (Yes, bigger & better than Ward/Kovalev 2) Kell Brook/Errol Spence Jr! I feel Brook is slightly better polished, his double jabs & great use of speed variations are hellish for ANYONE that faces him. Problem is that I don't think his orbital bone that Golovkin badly damaged will hold up tonight.

Spence Jr is like a young Terrible Terry Norris in the sense that he places his punches very well together from top to bottom & punches hard through his target. The referee may have to step in & save Brook from himself tonight. I like Spence Jr by 10th round TKO. I really don't envision this one going to the judges, but if it somehow does, it'll be controversial.

03/19/2017

CELEBRITY FIGHT NIGHT XXIII Scores Another Knockout

By: Albert Alvarez

It was another great night at Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night that inncluded a special tribute to the late Muhammad Ali presented by Sharon Stone and Larry King.

Along with Ford, Stone, & King, many other special guests such as David Foster, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Caroline Campbell, Colbie Callait, Mike Love, Brian McKnight, Sam Moore, Dennis Quaid and The Shadowboxers were on hand to help make it a very special night.

Other special attendees included Lonnie Ali, Laila Ali, Melissa Peterman, Larry Fitzgerald, Earnie Shavers, Nancy Lieberman, Michael Carbajal, Michael Phelps and more.

For the 12th consecutive year, Celebrity fight night was hosted by Grammy Award-winning country music superstar Reba McEntire.

The evening started with cocktails and a silent auction followed by dinner, an exciting live auction and entertainment that honored legendary actor Harrison Ford.

Celebrity Fight Night was once again held at the beautiful JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.

About the The Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night foundation and Awards: This great event was established as a way to acknowledge leaders in the sports, entertainment and business communities who best represent the qualities associated with the Champ’s fight to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

Previous award recipients throughout the years have included Halle Berry, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Howard Schultz, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin, Joe Montana, Tony Hawk, Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Magic Johnson, Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé, Jim Carrey, Forest Whitaker, Donald Trump, Clive Davis, Larry King, Jack Nicklaus, Emmitt Smith, Wayne Gretzky, Michael J. Fox, Michael Phelps, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Evander Holyfield to name a few.

Sponsors of this year’s event include The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, USA Today, Porsche, Zetta Jet, Tequila Patrón, GoDaddy, M Group Scenic Studios, and GO Media Companies.

Some red carpet highlights:

Legendary and former Arizona Wildcats basketball head coach Lute Olson, was on hand and when asked what does he feel are the Wildcats chances in this year's NCAA basketball tournament, Olson went on to say: "I think coach Miller is doing a great job and I feel that this Wildcats team is deep enough to win it all."

Fitness guru Billy Blanks mentioned to me when asked what does Celebrity Fight Night mean to him, " It means everything to me because we have all been blessed with the opportunity to continue to do this for the champ, together we will work with one another for such a great cause in hopes to one day find a cure for Parkinson's" Blanks went on to tell us that he is currently training Victor Ortiz and said that Ortiz is in great shape and will without a doubt defeat Brandon Rios when both do battle against one another.

Legendary former champion boxer and Valley of the Sun's very own Michael Carbajal told us that he really enjoys attending Celebrity Fight Night every year because of the great people coming together towards the same goal. When asked on his thoughts on junior bantamweight Chocolatito Gonzalez and his pound for pound fighter status, Carbajal said, " I like watching Chocolatito fight, he's a good fighter, if I were fighting against him I would stay right on him pressuring him non stop. I however don't think that Chocolatito is the best pound for pound fighter fighting today, I think Mikey Garcia is the best pound for pound fighter, and if Garcia were to fight Lomachenko, Garcia would beat Lomachenko and possibly knock him out."

Pictured: Michael Phelps, Gina Lee Nolin, Ernie Shavers

03/14/2017

Golovkin/Jacobs Prediction

By: Albert Alvarez

Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs will do battle this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden for the WBA Super World middleweight title on HBO Pay Per View.

Golovkin the monsterous puncher known as Triple G, has a flawless 36-0 record with 33 big knockouts. Golovkin is coming off of a September win over Kell Brook, in a match that forced Brooks trainer to throw in the towel to save his fighter from further punishment.

That 5th round stoppage win over Brook is quite possibly the biggest win thus far for Triple G and he did so by going directly into London and punishing Brook in front of Brooks home crowd.

Golovkin is without a doubt the best middleweight in the world and has looked invincible as he breaks his opponents fighting will with his powerful shots. Triple G to me is not only a very effective offensive fighter, but his ability to cut the ring off rapidly is a thing of beauty.

Danny Jacobs on the other hand just may be the hardest puncher Golovkin has faced and since Golovkin is not a defensive wizard, he will be there to be hit. So with that being said, I am extremely curious to see how Triple G’s chin will hold up.

Danny Jacobs last fought in September when he defeated Sergio Mora to improve to a stellar 32-1 record that includes 29 knockouts. Jacobs is definitely the bigger fighter and will have a reach advantage over Golovkin. I mention Jacob’s longer reach because Jacobs will need to fire out his jab to keep Golovkin at arms length in order to find any real shot at being the first man to defeat Golovkin.

So who shall be victorious in one of the biggest fights of the year?

For me, I feel that the fight will be evenly matched in the early going, but by round 6 I see Golovkin cutting off the ring on Jacobs and will begin to break down Jacobs with very heavy body shots.

I see Golovkin dropping Jacobs with a vicious right hook in round number 8. Jacobs will then somehow get back up to his feet and like a shark smelling blood, Golovkin will then jump on his prey to batter Jacobs post to post forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Golovkin by 8th round TKO.

Photo: WBC

02/28/2017

Manny Pacquiao Vs. Amir Khan Coming Soon?

By: Albert Alvarez

A couple days ago, both Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan both tweeted that negotiations were underway to secure a mega match to take place between both former gym mates/ sparring partners.

If this mega match comes to fruition, Khan would have finally landed one of his top two ultimate dream matches.

Amir Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) has been trying desperately the past few years to land a fight with either currently retired, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs).

It has almost been a year since Khan last fought in May of 2016 when Canelo Alvarez knocked Khan out leaving him unconscious. The explosive knock out occurred in the 6th stanza when Khan was blitzed with a devastating right hand by the then-middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez at a catchweight of 155 pounds.

The Pacquiao and Khan tweets about a potential matchup came to a big surprise to fight fans since Pacquiao previously had a deal to fight April 22 against Australia's Jeff Horn in Brisbane.

Pacquiao then also recently tweeted that his next bout will take place in the United Arab Emirates.

However, no official announcement has been made about the location of the Khan fight or no concrete response from Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum on whether or not the fight is a done deal.

So the question remains, will Pacquiao who last fought this past November when he dominated Jesse Vargas by unanimous decision, enter the ring on April 22 or 23? And if so, will Amir Khan be standing right across from the eight division world titleholder?

Photo Credit: Crown Boxing

02/21/2017

Top 10 Boxing Clashes To Look Forward To For The First Half Of 2017

By: Albert Alvarez

February 25

At Birmingham, Ala. (PBC on Fox and Fox Sports 1):

Tony Harrison (24-1) vs. Jarrett Hurd (19-0), 12 rounds, for vacant IBF junior middleweight title- Both fighters are looking to make a splash in a loaded junior middleweight division and their time is now to make a big statement. The winner will capture the now vacant IBF junior middleweight title vacated by Jermall Charlo.

March 4

At New York (CBS):

Keith Thurman (27-0) vs. Danny Garcia (33-0), 12 rounds, WBA/WBC welterweight unification- There is nothing better in boxing than a unification title fight between two young strong fighters in their prime of their careers.

March 11

At Verona, N.Y. (HBO):

David Lemieux (36-3) vs. Curtis Stevens (29-5), 12 rounds, middleweights- When you place two power punching fighters in the ring against one another, you'll more than likely get a very violent fight. Two words for you, LIGHTS OUT!

March 18

New York (HBO PPV):

Gennady Golovkin (36-0) vs. Daniel Jacobs (32-1), 12 rounds, for Golovkin's WBA/WBC/IBF middleweight title- Golovkin has had his eyes on Canelo Alvarez for quite some time, but he now is completely focused on another hard hitting fighter like himself in Jacobs.

March 25

At Manchester, England (Showtime):

Jorge Linares (41-3) vs. Anthony Crolla (31-5-3), rematch, 12 rounds, for Linares' WBA lightweight titlte- In their first fight, Linares was able to out point Crolla by unanimous decision in a action packed back and forth battle. For their rematch I anticipate another close toe to toe encounter.

April 8

At Oxon Hill, Md. (HBO):

Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1) vs. Jason Sosa (20-1-4), 12 rounds, for Lomachenko's WBO junior lightweight title- Sosa the road warrior faces his toughest test to date as he squares up against the matrix Lomachenko. This clash has skill versus will written all over it.

April 21

At Miami, Fla.:

Artur Beterbiev (11-0) vs. Sullivan Barrera (18-1), 12 rounds, IBF light heavyweight eliminator- Barrera is a heavy handed fighter and is battle tested, but never has he been in against a bone crushing puncher like Beterbiev.

April 29

At London:

Anthony Joshua (18-0) vs. Wladimir Klitschko (64-4), 12 rounds, for Joshua's IBF and vacant WBA heavyweight title- Wladimir along with his brother Vitali have both reigned in the heavyweight division for over a decade. Enter Anthony Joshua, a young powerful combination puncher.

May 6

At Las Vegas (HBO PPV):

Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1), 12 rounds, super middleweights- In terms of national media attention, this is the biggest fight made for the first half of this year. You have Canelo who is looking to be a legend in the sport in against the son of an all time great who is still desperately looking to make his own name. At the conclusion of this war, the only question to be answered will be if the winner of this fight will go on to face the winner of the Golovkin/Jacobs clash.

May 27

Sheffield, England

Kell Brook (36-1) vs. Errol Spence Jr. (21-0), 12 rounds, for Brook's IBF welterweight title- Other than his last fight against Gennady Golovkin, Brook had up to that point looked nearly unbeatable. Brook now will lock horns against a vicious younger fighter that is hungry and eager to collect championship belts.

02/12/2017

Canelo VS. Chavez Jr. Worth the gamble?

By: Albert Alvarez

When it was first reported that Canelo Alvarez would be squaring up against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., many fight fans grunted in anger and labeled the fight a mismatch. Many fans went on to say that Canelo will easily toy with Junior and knock him out.

But then about a week ago or so, the latest news that the great Nacho Beristein would be training Julio, I noticed that fans that were screaming mismatch began to back pedal from their early prediction. And I am sure that the main reason boxing fans changed stances on the bout was due to Nachos sharp mind and instinctive no bs'ing ways of preparing a fighter for war.

But for legendary trainer Nacho Beristein he must first aim to have Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) on target to make the 164 ½ pound catch-weight for his monster clash against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) on May 6 which will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Boxing talks say that Chavez Jr. is currently sitting in the neighborhood of 180 pounds. So as it stands right now it would appear that Julio is right on track to be on weight come Cinco De Mayo as he steps foot onto that dreadful scale.

Making weight has always been a tough battle to face for Julio. It's been reported and seen that when Julio is not training that his natural walk around weight is a few pounds north of 200 pounds. So what that tells me is that here is a fighter who has basically treated fight camps as weight loss challenges instead of training the mind on strategies and the body to be in the best shape possible for battle.

For Canelo, making weight has also been somewhat challenging. Canelo has a thick stocky build and eyes don't tell lies and my eyes tell me that getting down to his normal fighting weight of 155 pounds is a bit taxing. So obviously Canelo will have no problem making the 164 ½ contracted weight but mentally and physically how will he deal with being the smaller man come fight night.

Thus far Canelo has had the advantages of being the bigger stronger fighter walking down and at times, counter punching his prey. But in this fight against Chavez Jr., Canelo will be forced to be placed in spots where he's going to have to work and push hard to keep the heavier fighter off of him. And for a fighter with stamina issues that loves to rely on the ropes to steal some breaths, on the ropes against a heavier hard punching fighter is the last place you want to be.

So do you go for the quicker hard hitting boxer with a sharper mind in Canelo. Or do you go for the heavier and heavy handed fighter with a whole lot to prove brawler in Chavez Jr?

As for me, it's going to come down to the better conditioned fighter come fight night. Because in a fight such as this where the weight can dictate, late in the fight the amount of gas left in the tank will be more crucial for both fighters than ever before.

01/25/2017

A whole lot of Boxing this weekend & it starts here in Phoenix this Friday night at the Celebrity Theatre, John The Phenom Vera will be in action..

& then we got Erick De Leon fights on SoloBoxeo, that kid can really throw that leather.

On HBO this Saturday night Live from Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Francisco Vargas vs. Miguel Berchelt
(WBC junior lightweight title) another tough fight for El Bandido. Berchelt and his heavy hands will make it uncomfortable for El Bandido.

Takashi Miura vs. Miguel "Mickey" Roman, this is going to be a toe to toe slugfest.

This Saturday night on Showtime Live from
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
Carl Frampton vs. Leo Santa Cruz
(WBA featherweight title) Santa Cruz must take the fight to Frampton as the bigger stronger fighter to force Frampton to fight in retreat mode.

Dejan Zlaticanin vs. Mikey Garcia
(WBC lightweight title)Zlaticanin is all guts, he will need to really grind it out heavy and hard to edge out Garcia. Garcia will look to box from the outside until he gets within comfortable range to execute.

Phoenix very own and Future Force of the sport, La Bandera Roja David Benavidez will fight on the undercard!

12/31/2016

When the brand is bigger & better than the product

By: Albert Alvarez

First things first I write this as a drive-by UFC viewer, I don't really follow the sport. But I am however a combat sports fan so I do appreciate some of the skills that I see so I will tune in from time to time to catch a good tussle.

I've always admired the "F**k it, let's just fight" attitude about UFC fighters, but looking at it now, I now see that it's the same thing that in turn works against the fighters. A really sharp double-edged sword, and the thing is that the sport moves fast, too fast.

It's biggest priority & advantages of the UFC is their strength as a BRAND. UFC has a consistent following of hardcore die hard fans and much like WWE those same fans stay there to eat everything it puts out.

So last night after some Game of Thrones marathon, after re-watching 2016 fight of the year Bandido Vargas/Siri Salido, and after catching the final quarter of a great Florida State vs. Michigan game, I managed to find the time to peep out the return of Ronda Rousey.

I've always liked Rousey, her early and short run reminded me of Mike Tyson' early days of super fast demolishing of foes. So I just had to see how she would look after her loss to Holly Holm, I needed to see if the Rousey before Holm was back. And just like that, in less than a minute Rousey is stopped by Amanda Nunes. Ironically it's now Rousey who is on the receiving end of blazing quick stoppages.

Just as I was telling a friend earlier, when that psychological intimidating mental edge vanishes, from that point on it then becomes a very hard uphill battle. Even then, I don't feel sorry for Rousey, she has made some good coins and her past dominance opened the doors for other Women fighters and her impact even caused boxing to reopen the doors for women boxing. Rousey may now even have movie opportunities and WWE to fall back on.

I am then reminded that this is exactly why UFC NEEDED for Connor McGregor to beat Diaz in their rematch, he's their last consistent major star. But then again, maybe that's why McGregor is flirting with the idea to now take up professional boxing. McGregor wants all the leveraging room he can get, he realizes how quickly the tables turn so he's expanding the McGregor brand on his terms. Good thinking on his part because it's got to be difficult swimming among the sharks.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

12/09/2016

A Whole lot of boxing this weekend..The must see fights are:

On HBO:

Terence Crawford vs. John Molina,for Crawford's WBO/WBC junior welterweight title

Ray Beltran vs. Mason Menard,lightweights

Joseph Parker vs. Andy Ruiz Jr.,for vacant WBO heavyweight title

On Showtime:

Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina,for Joshua's IBF heavyweight title

Jesus Cuellar vs. Abner Mares,for Cuellar's WBA "regular" featherweight title

Jermall Charlo vs. Julian Williams,for Charlo's IBF junior middleweight title

AZ Front Row Magazine

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