Andrew Cancio showed a willingness to stand in the pocket and fight fire with fire against Rene Alvarado on Saturday night. It was the wrong strategy for the champion.
The game challenger made Cancio pay by landing sharp punches on the inside and peppering him with stinging shots on the outside. The output prompted the referee to end the bout at the end of the seventh round. With the upset TKO, Alvarado became the new WBA junior lightweight champion and avenged his December 2015 knockout loss to Cancio at the same Fantasy Springs Casino venue in Indio, Calif.
Alvarado showed a steely determination from the opening bell. He connected on hard rights and lefts early on and then opened a cut over Cancio's left eye in the third round. From there, he proceeded to work on Cancio's right eye, targeting and landing shots upstairs to weaken the champ.
Cancio bounced back in the sixth round by going to Alvarado's body, but Alvarado made sure to keep his inside position. He maintained just enough space to land a barrage of stinging rights and lefts in the seventh. The high volume left the referee with no choice but to end the bout and keep Cancio (21-5-2, 16 KOs) from suffering further damage. The stoppage was the right choice, and neither Cancio nor his corner objected.
Alvarado (32-8, 21 KOs) was clearly the better man nearly four years after their first meeting. His world championship status will serve as a symbol of his hard journey to gold.