During a relatively quiet weekend of boxing, lightweight Alan Chavez made the headlines with a highlight-reel knockout over Miguel Madueno on the undercard of Jarrell Miller vs Lenier Pero at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.
Chavez (22-0, 19 KOs) pinned Madueno’s back to the canvas in the third round with a devastating left hand to the head, turning the Mexican’s lights off in the process. The Argentine southpaw made his American debut, while also opening his account for new promoter Matchroom Boxing in some style. The 25-year-old from Buenos Aires penned terms on a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn earlier this month.
“I thought he was sensational, amazing,” Hearn told reporters following Chavez’s victory. “A lot of people have been telling me a lot about him, but his record already is 21-0, 18 knockouts, but he never fought outside Argentina. So, you never really know if the hype is real. But what we saw tonight was a huge puncher but also a very smart fighter.”
Matchroom’s new signing from a region the company rarely delves into put together his fifth straight stoppage victory on Saturday night.
“He’s someone with a good IQ, the speed, the brain,” Hearn continued while pointing to his temple. “He set up the shot up perfectly. That guy went the full distance with Keyshawn Davis, he got stopped on his feet maybe controversially to Oscar Duarte on a week’s notice. He’s a very durable guy and Chavez destroyed him. I think that he’s going to be a big, big star.”
Chavez’s closet reach for a world title shot is with the WBO, ranked in second place for Abdullah Mason’s belt. He is also ranked at sixth place with the IBF, but places one and two are vacant in the rankings, effectively putting him in fourth position for Raymond Muratalla’s IBF world title. Chavez also sits at thirteenth place in the WBC rankings for the vacant championship.
“Alan Chavez is right there in all the governing bodies, but there are not a lot of people who are going to want to fight him after tonight,” Hearn explained. “So, we have to get him into a mandatory position. It looks like Joe Cordina will fight Abdullah Mason, but we are just finalizing that, so the WBO mandatory won’t be due for quite a while. So, we got to look at the other governing bodies.
“We want to keep him active as well. Get him back out as soon as possible.”