Workmanlike slugger Ramon Alvarez produced the same result in his trilogy bout with Omar Chavez as he’d earned in their first fight seven years earlier, winning a wide unanimous decision on the Tribute to the Kings pay-per-view show from a cavernous Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico. 

Boxing Scene also saw it for the winner by a 78-74 count. 

Alvarez earn the nod by scores of 80-73, 80-73 and 79-73.

Alvarez defeated Chavez on the scorecards when they met in Tuxtla Gutierrez in 2014, but was stopped in two rounds in a rematch three years later in Chihuahua – on a show that also included the first full 10-round fight for future 154-pound champ Jaime Munguia, who also fought Saturday in El Paso, Texas. 

Alvarez was busier and more consistent over the fight’s first half, in spite of a speed disadvantage. 

After Chavez was effective with lateral movement in the opening round, he subsequently seemed content to remain more stationary and provide an easier target for Alvarez’s pressure and combinations.  

A right-left combination briefly stiffened Chavez’s legs in the third and what appeared to be an accidental clash of heads opened a jagged cut above the corner of his right eye in the fourth.  

“Once I saw the cut, the predator in me came out,” Alvarez said. “But the corner was telling me to leep calm and take it easy. It worked.” 

The gash bled profusely throughout the fifth, prompting a brief consultation with a ringside doctor, and Chavez wore a bloody mask on the right side of his face as Alvarez stepped up the attack in the sixth. 

Another doctor visit followed in the sixth as well, but the fight was allowed to continue. 

A rallying Chavez picked up his work rate slightly in the seventh, but was still strafed more consistently as streams of blood showered observers along the ring apron. The fighters hugged at the end of the round as if they thought the fight was over, then touched gloves upon coming out for the eighth.   

The win was Alvarez’s fifth in eight fights since his loss to Chavez, with the other two defeats coming against Brandon Rios and Erislandy Lara. His last win before Saturday had come in April 2019, but he was noncommittal about returning to retirement. 

“If the opportunity presents itself,” he said, “I would think about it.” 

Chavez is 2-4 since beating Alvarez and his last win also came in April 2019, on a separate card. 

“I thought the crowd and the judges and the refs would be more on their side because it was his hometown,” he said, “but I’m happy that didn’t happen.” 

Johan Alvarez, the nephew of Canelo Alvarez made a successful pro debut with a 1st round stoppage over Erick Hernandez in a super featherweight bout,

In round one, Alvarez hurt Hernandez with a hard right to the head that resulted in an eight-count, Alvarez dropped Hernandez with a hard right, and the fight was stopped at 2:41.

Alvarez of Guadalajra, MEX is 1-0 with one knockout. Hernandez of Guadalajara, MEX is 0-1.