Should Welterweight Shamone Alvarez Make A Comeback?
By Robert Brizel, Real Combat Media Correspondent
New York, NY ( March 13th, 2013)– Now 21-6, with 12 knockouts, onetime welterweight contender Shamone ‘The Truth’ Alvarez of Atlantic City has lost five of his last six professional bouts. Alvarez showed up recently at ringside during a boxing event in Atlantic City, and was talking of making another comeback at age 36.
The chances of Shamone Alvarez making a successful comeback seem unlikely, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the opponent. There was a time when Shamone Alvarez won his first 19 professional bouts in a row between 2002 and 2007. That was six years ago. Now, Alvarez is a shell of his former self inside the ring, and part of his issue is he is unable to look inside the fell and understand the reasons for his downfall and self-destruction. Whatever emotional issues he has had or has now, they come from outside the ring, but they affect him inside the ring.
The downfall of Shamone Alvarez, who went the 12 round distance but lost close bouts to Joshua Clottey (IBF eliminator) and Delvin Rodriguez (USBA title and IBF welterweight eliminator), probably came after his seventh round knockout of Alexis Camacho at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Jersey in March 2010.
Alvarez lost a ten round majority decision to Ayi Bruce at Bally’s in Atlantic City in December 2010, and his mind just did not seem to be with his body inside the ring on that night. He just was nto himself, for whatever reason. Shamone then took a bout 2 months later at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, losing a decision to Antonin Decarie. Alvarez won only one round on one of the three judges scorecards, which is what happens when you leave your hometown in the United States, cross the Canadian border and try to decision someone in Canada. It’ll never happen.
In December 2011, Alvarez was knocked down three times in his five round stoppage loss to gatekeeper trial horse Doel Carrasquillo at The Tropicana. Alvarez, not listening to his corner, kept standing in front of the power hitting Carrasquillo when he should have been jabbing on the move instead of offering a free target.
On November 29, 2012, Alvarez offered little resistance in the ring at Superstar Theater at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, getting stopped in the third round by local club fighter Decarlo Perez. It was less a Perez win than Alvarez losing to himself, not moving, not listening to his corner, in his own world somewhere.
All which a ring observer could figure out is Alvarez, having lost five of his last seven fights, subconsciously did not know where he was heading against Perez, and simply did not have his heart in the ring. Being in the ring physically is not enough. You cannot just want to be there. You have to want to win.
In the photo above in the ring before his last fight, Shamone looks lost. Perhaps his truth is the truth Shamone does not want to recognize. He bright shining star had faded. Probably Shamone should not make a comeback, but if he does, the outcome will not change unless he knows why he is fighting and enters the ring with a heart. Alvarez will never be a world champion now, but he could win again if he can understand where he made his wrong turns on the way to boxing paradise. For when a winner becomes a loser in life, there are always reasons for the fall. A fighter, like any human being, has to look inside the well, realize the flaws when they occur, and make corrections, or bad habits will just keep repeating themselves.
Some fighters have the sort of wisdom, depth and understanding to make internal and external changes and corrections in personality, style, and in life. Some don’t. Alvarez probably is not unique in the way he fell and his career hit rock bottom, but he can still pull himself together-if not his career-by recognizing his weaknesses and the reasons losses occurred, and changing the game plan so as to have a better chance to win.
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