Devon Alexander
| Devon Alexander | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Devon Alexander |
| Nickname(s) | Alexander the Great |
| Rated at |
Junior welterweight Welterweight |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Reach | 71 in (180 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born |
February 10, 1987 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 29 |
| Wins | 26 |
| Wins by KO | 14 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Devon Alexander (born February 10, 1987) is a professional American boxer. Nicknamed "Alexander the Great," he is a former WBC and IBF Light Welterweight champion and a former IBF Welterweight Champion.
Biography
Alexander grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of north St. Louis, in an area described as downtrodden, rough, gang- and drug-infested.[1] Alexander was mentored by many people at a young age including Former NFL players Eric Drain and Demetrius Johnson, principal of Clay Community Education Center Frank Muelhauser, and PE teacher, Brad Slinkard. He would later join the boxing gym that Kevin Cunningham, a former police officer and security officer at Clay Community Center, turned trainer, founded in the basement of an old police station.[2]
Thirty kids joined the boxing program of Cunningham, who had hoped to keep the kids out of trouble, off the streets, and in the ring. A stablemate of Alexander's, Cory Spinks would become welterweight champion. .[3]
Amateur career
Alexander had an outstanding amateur career, compiling a record of 300-10 under the tutelage of Cunningham. He was a four-time Silver Gloves champion from ages 10–14; three-time PAL national champion; Junior Golden Gloves and Junior Olympics national champion; 2003 United States national champion in the 19-and-under division; and 2004 United States light welterweight national champion. Alexander made it to the final round of the 2004 Olympic trials, where he battled Rock Allen to a draw and was knocked down once before losing on a tie-breaker.[4]
Professional career
Light Welterweight
At age 17, Alexander made his professional debut, defeating Vincent Torres by first round technical knockout in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan.[4] He was victorious in his second pro fight against Karl Hunter before on February 5, 2005, Alexander defeated Donovan Castaneda by unanimous decision in front of 22,370 spectators, the second-largest crowd in history to witness a boxing event in an indoor arena at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Alexander’s mentor, Cory Spinks, headlined the card opposing Zab Judah.[5]
Alexander won his next five fights before on July 8, 2006, at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Alexander defeated Tyler Ziolkowski by first round technical knockout to win the WBC Youth welterweight title, but was himself knocked down once in the fight.[5]
On January 6, 2007, Alexander defeated Maximinio Cuevas by fourth round technical knockout at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In his next fight, Alexander fought Scott Ball on March 2, 2007, at the Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Belterra, Indiana. Alexander was down in the second round himself but broke Ball's jaw in round six and dropped him twice in round seven en route to a technical knockout victory.[5]
He won his next two fights against Marcus Luck and Cory Peterson before he went up against former WBO junior welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley on January 19, 2008, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Alexander easily defeated Corley by unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBC Continental Americas junior welterweight title.[6]
Light Welterweight title
On August 1, 2009, Alexander defeated Junior Witter to claim the vacant WBC light welterweight championship. Witter gave up on his stool after the eighth round, claiming that he had re-injured his left hand. Alexander was hurt by a right hand in round 2. All three judges had Alexander ahead at the time of the stoppage 79-73, 79-73, 80-72.
Alexander vs. Urango
Alexander was next scheduled to face two-time champion Juan Urango of Colombia in a title unification bout. The 6 March 2010 bout was held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut and was televised on HBO's "Boxing After Dark" telecast.[2] To train for the fight, Alexander used a Las Vegas house lent by promoter Don King as training base.[3] Devon Alexander defeated Juan Urango by TKO in round 8. Alexander threw an uppercut which dropped Urango. Urango made the count but Alexander resumed his attack and threw a hook to Urango's temple which again dropped him. Urango stood up but was clearly dazed, resulting in a stoppage by the referee. Urango, who suffered his first KO defeat, called out Timothy Bradley after the fight, but a fight was never made because Bradley just moved up to welterweight.
In his next fight he faced Andreas Kotelnik, the former WBA Light Welterweight champion, in his hometown of St. Louis Missouri on 7 August in front of members of the St. Louis Rams, Evander Holyfield and Floyd Mayweather.[7] Alexander won the fight by a controversial unanimous decision with all judges scoring the fight 116-112.
On October 22, 2010, Alexander was stripped of the IBF Junior Welterweight title for not fighting the no. 1 contender, Kaizer Mabuza.
Alexander vs. Bradley
Alexander's next fight, on January 29, 2011, took place against Timothy Bradley, which he lost via 10th round TD after an unintentional head-butt forced a stop to the bout.[8]
Alexander vs. Matthysse
On June 25, 2011, Alexander defeated Lucas Matthysse in a controversial split decision. The judges scored the fight 96-93 and 95-94 for Alexander and 96-93 for Matthysse.
Welterweight
On February 25, 2012 Alexander moved up to welterweight and put on a dominating performance against highly regarded and hard-charging Marcos Maidana. Alexander landed the right hook at will, catching Maidana with his left hand down throughout the contest. Maidana was seemingly surprised by both the speed and power Alexander displayed at his first fight at welterweight. Only one of the three judges had Maidana winning a round. The impressive nature of the win earned Alexander a title match with Randall Bailey in September 2012. Alexander was criticized by some however, for fighting illegally at some points during the fight.
Alexander was scheduled to fight titlest Randall Bailey as a main event on Showtime Championship Boxing on September 8, 2012, but Bailey withdrew due to injury. Their fight was replaced with the original undercard fight between Olusegun Ajose and Lucas Matthysse and an originally scheduled non-televised fight between J'Leon Love and Ramon Valenzuela was changed to a televised bout.[9]
Welterweight title
Alexander returned to action on October 20, 2012, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he won the IBF Welterweight title by unanimous decision against Ring Top 10 Welterweight, Randall Bailey. The fight was fought at a comfortable pace for Alexander, with very little exchanges, as Bailey did not let his hands go very often. In a one sided fight, Alexander won his third world title in his second division.
Alexander's next fight was originally suppose to happen on January 19, 2013, against mandatory challenger and Ring No. 3 ranked Welterweight, Kell Brook. However, Brook suffered an ankle injury during training, and the fight has been rescheduled for May 18, 2013 in Atlantic City. Alexander's camp and some boxing insiders have questioned the authenticity of this injury and instead assert that Brook was simply not ready to step up in class to fight Alexander, though this claim is seemingly less accurate after Brook defeated Shawn Porter, who had previously defeated Alexander.
Devon Alexander vs. Shawn Porter
Alexander would lose the IBF Welterweight title to Shawn Porter on December 7, 2013 by unanimous decision with scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 116-112.[10]
Amir Khan vs. Devon Alexander
Alexander lost the WBC Silver Welterweight title to Amir Khan on December 13, 2014 by a lopsided unanimous decision with scores of 119-109, 118-110, 120-108.[11]
Professional boxing record
| 26 Wins (14 knockouts, 12 decisions), 3 Losses, 0 Draws[8] | |||||||
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 26–3 |  Amir Khan |
UD | 12 | 2014-12-13 |  MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, Nevada |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 26–2 |  Jesús Soto Karass |
UD | 10 | 2014-06-21 | StubHub Center, Carson, California |
|
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 25–2 | Shawn Porter |
UD | 12 | 2013-12-07 | Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York |
Lost IBF Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 25–1 | Lee Purdy |
RTD | 7 (12) | 2013-05-18 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 24–1 | Randall Bailey |
UD | 12 | 2012-10-20 | Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York |
Won IBF Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 23–1 |  Marcos Maidana |
UD | 10 | 2012-02-25 | Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 22–1 | Lucas Matthysse |
SD | 10 | 2011-06-25 | The Family Arena, St. Charles, Missouri |
|
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 21–1 | Timothy Bradley |
TD | 10 (12), 3:00 | 2011-01-29 | Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan |
Lost WBC Light Welterweight title. For WBO Light Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 21–0 |  Andreas Kotelnik |
UD | 12 | 2010-08-07 | Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
Retained IBF and WBC Light Welterweight titles. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 20–0 |  Juan Urango |
TKO | 8 (12), 1:12 | 2010-03-06 | Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut |
Retained WBC Light Welterweight title. Won IBF Light Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 19–0 | Junior Witter |
RTD | 8 (12), 3:00 | 2009-08-01 | Agua Caliente, Rancho Mirage, California |
Won vacant WBC Light Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 18–0 | Jesus Rodriguez |
KO | 9 (10), 0:58 | 2009-04-24 | Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 17–0 | Christopher Fernandez |
RTD | 3 (8), 3:00 | 2008-12-11 | Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 16–0 |  Sun-Haeng Lee |
TKO | 4 (10), 0:19 | 2008-11-07 |  Sichuan Gymnasium, Chengdu |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 15–0 |  Miguel Callist |
UD | 12 | 2008-03-27 | Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
Retained WBC Continental Americas Light Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 14–0 | DeMarcus Corley |
UD | 12 | 2008-01-19 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York |
Won vacant WBC Continental Americas Light Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 13–0 | Cory Peterson |
TKO | 1 (8), 2:59 | 2007-10-13 | Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates, Illinois |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 12–0 | Marcus Luck |
KO | 3 (8), 1:24 | 2007-07-07 | Harbour Yard Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 11–0 | Scott Ball |
KO | 7 (8), 0:59 | 2007-03-02 | Belterra, Florence, Indiana |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 10–0 | Maximino Cuevas |
TKO | 4 (4), 2:02 | 2007-01-06 | Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood, Florida |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 9–0 | Tyler Ziolkowski |
TKO | 1 (10), 2:40 | 2006-07-08 | Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
Won WBC Youth World Light Welterweight title. |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 8–0 | Seth Hebenstreit |
UD | 6 | 2006-03-09 | The Spott, St. Louis, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 7–0 | Kelly Wright |
UD | 6 | 2005-10-21 | Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 6–0 | Christian Nash |
TKO | 2 (4), 2:28 | 2005-09-30 | Noa Noa Night Club, Stone Park, Illinois |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 5–0 | John Rudolph |
TKO | 3 (4), 1:01 | 2005-06-02 | The Family Arena, St. Charles, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 4–0 |  Felix Lora |
UD | 6 | 2005-05-21 | United Center, Chicago, Illinois |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 3–0 | Donovan Castaneda |
UD | 6 | 2005-02-05 | Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 2–0 | Karl Hunter |
UD | 4 | 2004-06-03 | Ambassador Club, St. Louis, Missouri |
|
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 1–0 | Vincent Torres |
TKO | 1 (4) | 2004-05-20 | Kewadin Casino, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan |
Professional debut. |
References
- ↑ "Devon Alexander escaped streets of St. Louis to become a champion". SportsIllustrated.cnn.com. 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Alexander Not Letting Praise Get To His Head". Espn.com. 2010-03-05. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Devon Alexander rises from mean streets to become world champ". CanadaEast.com. 2010-03-05. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Donovan, Jake (2008-01-18). "New School Pick of the Week: Devon Alexander". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Devon Alexander Profile". BoxingNews24.com. 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ↑ "Alexander Decisions Corley, Collazo Defeats Barros". BoxingNews24.com. 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ↑ "The Matador: Alexander Unified Champion". HBO.com. 2010-03-06. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=254834&cat=boxer
- ↑ http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/1804/love-valenzuela-elevated-to-co-main-event
- ↑ Sky Sports http://www1.skysports.com/boxing/news/12183/9063411/shawn-porter-claims-ibf-welterweight-belt-paulie-malignaggi-wins-battle-of-brooklyn. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ http://www.espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/12026364/amir-khan-defeats-devon-alexander-unanimous-decision
Further reading
- Nelson, Peter Owen (March 3, 2010). "Devon Alexander escaped streets of St. Louis to become a champion". Sports Illustrated (New York: Time Inc.).
- Samaha, Albert (February 23, 2012). "Familiar Ring: What must Devon Alexander "The Great" do to live up to his nickname?". Riverfront Times (St. Louis: Village Voice Media).
- Timmermann, Tom (15 January 2008). "St. Louisan living a dream with title fight". St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis: Lee Enterprises).
External links
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Timothy Bradley |
WBC Super Lightweight Champion August 1, 2009 – January 29, 2011 |
Succeeded by Timothy Bradley |
| Preceded by Juan Urango |
IBF Junior Welterweight Champion March 6, 2010 – October 22, 2010 Stripped |
Vacant Title next held by Zab Judah |
| Preceded by Randall Bailey |
IBF Welterweight Champion October 20, 2012 – December 7, 2013 |
Succeeded by Shawn Porter |