LAS VEGAS — Saturday night’s fifth-round stoppage by WBC junior middleweight titleholder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez over Josesito Lopez drew a live gate of more than $1 million, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director, Keith Kizer.
Taking place on Mexican Independence Day weekend and televised on Showtime, Alvarez-Lopez produced a gate of $1,618,150 from 12,860 tickets sold, and was contested before a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Although zero tickets went unsold, 1,659 of them were given away on a complimentary basis.
The 22-year-old Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 knockouts) scored three knockdowns against Lopez (30-5, 18 KOs), and earned $2 million to $212.500 for the loser. Alvarez was granted another $100,000 as a bonus from promoter Golden Boy for coming up with the night’s best knockout.
In an earlier bout, IBF bantamweight titleholder Leo Santa Cruz (21-0-1, 11 KOs) scored a sixth-round TKO over veteran contender Eric Morel (46-4, 23 KOs), who was stopped for the first time in his career.
Also on the undercard, hard-punching Argentine Marcos Maidana (32-3, 29 KOs) scored an eighth-round technical knockout over welterweight rival Jesus Soto Karass (26-8-3, 17 KOs), whom he dropped in the seventh round.
In a mild upset, Daniel Ponce de Leon (43-4, 35 KOs) emerged victorious over WBC featherweight beltholder Jhonny Gonzalez (52-8, 45 KOs), coming away with an eighth-round unanimous technical decision victory that ended Gonzalez’s 12-fight winning streak that had included 11 knockouts.
Santa Cruz, Maidana and Ponce de Leon were each granted an extra $25,000 to their purses for their efforts, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.
Photo by Tom Casino, Showtime
Lem Satterfield can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org