Devon Alexander Seeks to Shed Dreaded Label Against Hard-hitting Lucas Matthysse

By Michael Gluckstadt

The biggest lie we tell ourselves in sports-watching and commentary is that the athletes are actually substitutes for the viewer. We'd never abandon our team in the fourth quarter like LeBron James. Roberto Luongo just needs to pretend he's playing at home. We think we know what goes on inside their heads, but how could we possibly?

Nowhere is that lie more exposed than in boxing. Sure, it certainly looked like Devon Alexander quit in his last fight against Timothy Bradley. That he clenched his eyes a little too forcefully when the ring doctor told him, "If you can't open up your eyes, the evening's over." But having never been pummeled by the likes of Timothy Bradley for ten straight rounds, including at least three head butts to the face, well, we're not really in a position to say, are we?



On HBO.com, Eric Raskin takes a look at some fighters who've recently been branded as quitters. What he's found is that it doesn't always stick.

Two years after quitting against Maidana, [Victor] Ortiz silenced questions about his heart by winning a 12-round slugfest against previously unbeaten Andre Berto. Vitali Klitschko quit with a shoulder injury against Chris Byrd, was savaged by the American boxing media, and fought through a horrifying cut against Lennox Lewis with maximum bravery three years later. Robert Guerrero appeared to do against Daud Yordan what Alexander did against Bradley, welcoming a premature ending without actually verbally surrendering, and has made the two-round no-contest a faded memory with six straight victories since.

Can Alexander join their ranks? He has a tough task ahead of him. In the Fight Overview story, also on HBO.com, Nat Gottlieb reveals that Alexander's trainer Kevin Cunningham believes this test could be even more dangerous than the last one his boxer failed.

Taking on Matthysse with his 26 knockouts in 28 victories, certainly isn’t an easier task. In fact, Cunningham says, “This fight is more dangerous than Bradley, because Bradley did not have the knockout punch Matthysse has. After Bradley, we wanted to come back against the best guy we could, and we got the biggest puncher at 140 pounds.” Matthysse could also easily be undefeated; his only loss a split decision to Zab Judah, in which one point separated them on all three scorecards.

Does Alexander posses the mental toughness to come back from his first career defeat? To withstand an onslaught from a fighter who's only had three professional fights that didn't end with his opponent getting knocked out? Only one man knows for sure, and the rest of us will find out on Saturday night.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Looks to Step Out of Father’s Shadow Against Sebastian Zbik

By Nat Gottlieb

Photo: Chris Farina

“I don’t know if there have been many sons of great fighters who equaled their fathers,” says HBO analyst Larry Merchant. “They’re always compared against their father’s very high standard, and that is difficult to live up to. Most of the fathers overcame extreme poverty and had a certain kind of hardness because of that. Sons had it a lot easier growing up, and even though they lived in the gym, they didn’t have that kind of hardness inside. They’re able to get to a certain level, able to make some money, but the question remains, will the son also rise?”

Read the rest of the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sebastian Zbik fight overview on HBO.com.

Fast & Furious: The Morales-Maidana Card

The Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana pay-per-view card is locked and loaded with all-out action fights, top to bottom.

Former World Champion Marcos Maidana hits the double end bag on March 29, 2011 during a media workout in Las Vegas, Nevada in preparation for his April 9, 2011 fight against Six-Time and Three-Division World Champion Erik Morales at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas which will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View. Photo: Gene Blevins - Hoganphotos

If there's one commonality in the four featured fights, it's that the stakes are very high for all boxers. Questions need to be answered. Doors to bigger futures are there to be opened. Rarely have fighters on the same card had so much to gain, equally as much to lose.  That is why April 9 could be a night to remember, both for boxers and fans.

Read more on HBO.com

Khan's Crucible

by Nat Gottlieb

Power-punching Marcos Maidana may be the most dangerous fighter in the stacked 140-pound division, but Bob Papa calls him the "perfect" opponent for Amir Khan.

Gene Blevins - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

Every person's chin sits in the lower part of their face, below the lower lip. But if Amir Khan's critics are to be believed, his lies on top of his head like a glass tiara waiting to get knocked off. It is a vast simplification of the multi-faceted boxer, yet not totally unwarranted given the brutal first round beat down he suffered at the hands of another heavy-fisted fighter, Breidis Prescott in 2008.

Since then, Khan has won five straight fights and collected a championship belt along the way, but none of that has changed the perception among many that the Brit has a weak chin. You certainly don't shed that kind of label fighting light-hitting punchers like Dimitriy Salita and Paulie Malignaggi. Maidana (29-1, 27 KOs) is whole different animal.

Read more of Nat Gottlieb's overview on HBO.com

Marquez Faces Hungry Lion in Katsidis

by Nat Gottlieb

Photo by Gene Blevins - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

Juan Manuel Marquez outclasses Michael Katsidis on paper. But Max Kellerman says youth, aggressiveness and a strong will to win might just enable the Aussie to pull off a stunning upset.

Katsidis is the kind of action hero they make comic book movies about. He fights with reckless abandon, never quits and always gives fans their money's worth. The difference between him and Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man is that those guys always overcome all odds to win. The same can't be said about Katsidis.

Read more at HBO.com