Eleider Alvarez knocks out Michael Seals in round 7

Eleider Alvarez returned to the ring for the first time in almost a year to knock out Michale Seals in terrific fashion in round 7.

Eleider Alvarez wasn’t considered a knockout puncher until he surprisingly stopped Sergey Kovalev in 2018. On Saturday, Jan. 18, Alvarez proved that his stoppage against Kovalev wasn’t a fluke as he dropped and stopped Michael Seals in round 7.

Alvarez came into his bout with Seals with a 48 percent KO rating. That’s not a bad number for most, but it’s low for a former light heavyweight titleholder. However, his right hand devastated Kovalev in 2018, and it struck again in his latest contest with Seals.

Alvarez looked rusty for the majority of his fight with Seals. After losing in his rematch with Kovalev last February, Alvarez suffered an Achilles injury that kept him away from boxing. Alvarez had a hard time finding his rhythm, and his absence from the ring impacted his fluidity.

Seals was the perfect opponent for Alvarez in his return to the ring. He looked good on paper with a record of 24-2, with 18 KOs. Seals has power in his right hand, but at 37 years old, he lacked experience against notable opposition. This cost him dearly against Alvarez.

Alvarez vs. Seals was a boring, sloppy fight through round 6. Alvarez was winning the bout, but only because Seals couldn’t let his hands go. Alvarez threw jabs from the outside and occasionally landed looping rights, but found himself constantly clinching with Seals.

After either of them threw a right hand, they would lean in and clinch to make up for poor punching mechanics. The holding became excessive and slowed the fight’s tempo. The Verona, New York crowd booed the contest on several occasions. It wasn’t until round 7 that fans in attendance had something to cheer about.

The round was plodding along, but Alvarez and Seals decided to throw right hands at nearly the same time, but Alvarez’s timing was better. His punch connected before Seals’ and instantly sent Seals falling down and back to the canvas.

It was a scary knockout. Seals’ head bounced off the bottom rope as he lay motionless with his eyes slightly open. He was out but started to come to around the referee’s count of four. Seals was badly hurt and couldn’t beat the count of 10.

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It was a hard boxing bout to watch due to its slow pace, but Alvarez’s right hand produced an exciting ending. Seals wasn’t the toughest opponent, but Alvarez’s KO performance did enough to maintain his stock as a top-10 light heavyweight.

Bob Arum made it known after Joe Smith Jr. defeated Jesse Hart last week, that the winner of this bout would be next up for Smith. Alvarez advances and lines up an interesting future light heavyweight showdown.