Francis Ngannou proved, however, that he wouldn’t be the pushover so many anticipated.

Ngannou not only shockingly took Fury the 10-round distance, but he came within one judge’s scorecard of pulling off the upset early Sunday morning. Juan Carlos Pelayo of Mexico scored the fight 96-93 for Fury and Alan Krebs of the United States gave him a 95-94 victory. Ed Garner of Canada gave the fight to Ngannou at 95-94.

“That definitely wasn’t in the script,” Fury said. “Francis is a hell of a fighter – stronger, big puncher and a lot better boxer than we all thought he would ever be.”

Fury remained undefeated at 34-0-1 with 24 knockouts.

Ngannou, whose UFC record was 17-3, knocked down Fury in the third round, but this was a missed opportunity at a major upset. Ngannou landed only six of 38 punches in the final two rounds, according to CompuBox, compared to 14 of 37 for Fury.

Fury landed more punches overall (71-59), but Ngannou hit the mark with more power shots (37-32).

“I feel fantastic,” Ngannou said. “I’m very happy. It didn’t go my way, but I want to thank … the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (for) the opportunity to prove people wrong one more time.”

Fury’s championship belt was never on the line in this bout, though it counts as an official fight.

He was a prohibitive minus-1,800 favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, though some late money came in on Ngannou.

“He was very awkward,” Fury said. “He wasn’t coming forward. He was standing back waiting for me to land my punches and then try to counter. He’s a good fighter. He’s given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years.”

Fury relied on his jab early and switched to left-handed briefly in the second round when Ngannou made some headway and even opened a cut above Fury’s left eye. Then with 43 seconds remaining in the third round, Ngannou sent Fury to the floor with a left hook, the seventh time he has been knocked down in his career.

Ngannou staggered Fury early in the fourth, but Fury stayed on his feet and the rest of the round was fairly even after that. Fury appeared to gain control late in the fifth round and carried it over into the sixth, but Ngannou showed in the seventh he wasn’t going anywhere as both boxers traded blows.

Ngannou delivered three powerful lefts early in the eighth and then staggered Fury with two strong combinations midway through the round. Fury found himself holding on as Ngannou grabbed the momentum.

Fans chanted “Francis! Francis!” early in the 10th round, and just the fact the fight went the distance was an upset in itself.

Recording artists Kanye West and Eminem also attended, as did soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, UFC headliner Conor McGregor and current and former boxing greats such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Manny Pacquiao.

Taking on this fight is the latest venture for the 35-year-old Brit, who has appeared in the WWE and been the focal point of a Netflix reality series. The money, a reported $50 million, to open the country’s entertainment festival called Riyadh Season, also likely piqued his interest.

The host country did its part in making Fury-Ngannou a stand-alone event. That fight was inside the 26,000-seat Kingdom Arena, and the preliminary bouts were in a nearby outside venue constructed for this card.

Recording artists Lil Baby and Becky G performed in the main arena before both boxers entered. Then each fighter took his place on a throne wearing robes fit for a king.

If Fury figured to be in his element in a boxing ring, this was definitely a move out of the comfort zone for Ngannou, the Cameroon native, Las Vegas resident and former UFC heavyweight champion more accustomed to fighting in an octagon cage. Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who also made the trip to Saudi Arabia, helped Ngannou get ready for his boxing debut.

This not only was his first boxing match, but Ngannou hasn’t competed at all since beating Ciryl Gane in UFC 270 in January 2022.

“I know I’ve come up short, but I’m going to go back and work harder with a little more experience this time, a little more feeling of the game and come back stronger,” Ngannou said. “This is a new sport that I never did, that I never fit. Now I know I can do this (expletive).”

Ngannou, 37, had a falling out with the UFC earlier this year. UFC president Dana White stripped him of his belt in January, and in May, Ngannou signed with the rival Professional Fighters League. His first fight for the PFL is expected to take place early next year.

Fury has the chance to unify the heavyweight division. He has agreed to fight Oleksandr Usyk, a Ukrainian who is in possession of the other three championship belts, on Dec. 23 in Saudi Arabia.

“I’m going to go home and take a little rest and we’ll see what’s next for us,” Fury said.

In the co-feature between two undefeated British heavyweights, Fabio Wardley knocked down David Adeleye with a right-left combination in the final minute of the seventh round, then finished him off at 2:43 when referee John Latham stopped the fight. Adeleye then shoved Latham, which could draw a suspension.

Wardley, 28, improved to 17-0 with 16 knockouts, and he owns the British, Commonwealth Boxing and WBO European heavyweight championships. Adeleye, 26, is 12-1.

The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Tyson Fury compared himself to Novak Djokovic after going face-to-face with Francis Ngannou at their weigh-in on Friday.

The towering Brit dismissed the punching threat posed by Ngannou, a former UFC star who will make his professional boxing debut Saturday at age 37.

“It’s like a table tennis champion facing Djokovic in the Wimbledon final – totally different,” the WBC heavyweight champion said.

The 35-year-old Fury weighed in at 277.7 pounds while his Cameroonian opponent was 272.1 pounds after both men stepped on the scale in street clothes.

Moments later, Fury pushed his forehead into Ngannou, who responded with a chest bump to give himself some space.

“I have played this game so long. This can’t get to me. It’s part of the game,” Ngannou said of Fury’s antics.

Both fighters predicted a quick conclusion on Saturday.

“We’re going to take a couple of minutes at the beginning, but I think this fight will end very quick,” Ngannou said.

Fury, the self-described “Gypsy King,” will earn a reported $50 million paycheck for the fight in the Saudi Arabian capital.

It’s a 10-round fight and will count as an official bout, according to the WBC, though Fury’s belt will not be at stake on the off-chance he is beaten.

“I’m going to make it nice and short for him,” Fury said.

FURY CONTINUES OFFBEAT PATH

Being the best heavyweight boxer in the world isn’t enough for Fury.

Now is the time for the charismatic Brit with a personality as big as his punch to make the most of his ascent to the top of the sport, build his brand and rake in the cash.

Appearances in WWE? Sure.

A Netflix reality series documenting his home life? Of course.

Heading to the Middle East to fight a former UFC star in the latest in a growing number of crossover bouts? Oh, yes, especially if it brings in a reported $50 million paycheck.

For Fury, the chance to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion this century can wait, even if that’s a source of frustration for the boxing world and plenty outside it.

First of all, he has this lucrative itch to scratch by taking on Ngannou in a fight that opens Riyadh Season, the kingdom’s festival of entertainment through the winter months.

Few are giving Ngannou any hope, despite his one-time status as the standout fighter in UFC before an acrimonious departure in January that led to him signing with the Professional Fighters League on an MMA deal only.

Ngannou hasn’t fought in nearly two years, since defeating Ciryl Gane in UFC 270 in January 2022. Then there’s the small matter of him taking on the reigning world heavyweight champion and never having boxed before.

Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, is calling the occasion a “game-changer.” Others might call it a money grab holding up the heavily trailed unification fight between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk – the WBA, WBO and IBF champion from Ukraine – for which a deal has been signed, even if a date has not been announced.

“What I’m seeing at the moment,” Warren said, “is people going crazy for guys who have not had any amateur background, YouTuber guys, and they’re buying into it big time. If it’s there, people will buy into it.”

The 6-foot-9 Fury has always been unconventional. The self-proclaimed “Gypsy King,” who comes from a bloodline of bare-knuckle champions and was named after Mike Tyson, became heavyweight champion by bringing an end to Wladimir Klitschko’s decade-long reign in a huge upset in the Ukrainian’s boxing backyard of Duesseldorf in 2015.

Fury’s career – and life – then spiraled out of control amid drug use and depression that led to him vacating his titles and attempting to kill himself.

After a 3½-year break, he returned to boxing in a blaze of publicity, championing himself as a mental health advocate while still dishing out nasty abuse to most of his rivals. His prowess in the ring remained unquestionable as he completed a sensational trilogy of fights with Deontay Wilder with a victory in Las Vegas in October 2021 to bring the WBC title back to Britain, since when he has sold out huge soccer stadiums in London with victories over journeymen Brits Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora – on either side of reversing a decision to retire.

With that back story, no wonder his offbeat career path wound its way to WWE, where he turns up intermittently in main events to, for example, defeat Braun Strowman or KO Austin Theory.

He has released a line of energy drinks and, in August, “At Home with the Furys” was aired on the Netflix streaming service, opening the door to his family life in northwest England in those months when he claimed to be retired.

And now this fight against Ngannou, to be labeled “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”

“Sometimes I stand in front of the mirror and think I’m an absolute genius,” Fury said upon arriving in Riyadh late Tuesday. “When everyone thought it was all over for the Gypsy King, he comes and totally redeems himself and pulls this out of the hat.

“Only six months ago, I didn’t know if I ever was going to box again. Now, here we go.”

For Ngannou, it’s an entry into the world of boxing that he has been eager to try out.

For Fury, it’s a money-maker that allows him to shake off some rust before the planned fight with Usyk.

Boxing traditionalists will simply hope Fury emerges unscathed so the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 can be crowned in the coming months.

“I need to be on my ‘A’ game because there’s more on the line now than a boxing fight,” Fury has said. “If I lost to an MMA guy, I’m never going to be able to show my face in public again. There’s going to be ridicule and people are going to chuck it in my face forever. There’s more riding on this than there ever has been before.”

Moments later, it was Makhachev who went to work at UFC 294.

Makhachev (26-1-0) used a devastating kick with his left leg to the Australian’s right temple, then quickly pounced and used nine hammering blows with his left hand before referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight at the 3:06 mark of the first round Saturday.

“I have a great team. We always did this in the locker room, in the training — pushed me very hard,” Makhachev said. “I showed him a couple of low kicks, couple of body kicks and then changed to head kick. I want to say thank you to this guy (Volkanovski). He’s a real champion.”

The Russian fighter’s compliment referred to Volkanovski (26-3-0) taking the fight on just 11 days’ notice after Makhachev’s original opponent, former champion Charles Oliveira, withdrew with a cut.

The victory likely brought closure to a rivalry that started when Volkanovski gave Makhachev what might have been the toughest test of his career in their epic 155-pound championship bout at UFC 284 in February.

Makhachev defeated Volkanovski with what many felt was a controversial unanimous decision after five competitive rounds.

On Saturday, Makhachev left no doubt.

“Great setup, good kick,” Volkanovski said. “It’s hard, never like losing. He’s a great champion, what are you going to do? Credit it to him.”

Makhachev’s win ties him for the third-longest win streak in UFC history (13).

Asked who he wanted next, Makhachev replied, “I never choose. (UFC president) Dana (White), give me someone.”

In an action-packed co-main event, Khamzat Chimaev (13-0) remained undefeated with a majority decision over former welterweight king Kamaru Usman (20-4), who took the middleweight bout on short notice, replacing injured opponent Paulo Costa.

“I was a school kid when he was fighting,” Chimaev said of Usman. “This bout to me means big things.”

Judges scored the bout 29-27 twice with a 28-28 on the third card.

In the highly anticipated light heavyweight battle between No. 2 Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1) and No. 7 Johnny Walker (21-7-0), it was declared a no-contest at 3:13 of the first round. Ankalaev landed what was deemed an unintentional knee while Walker was down and the bout was paused.

After audio replays indicated Walker was dazed and confused during a brief exchange with ringside physician Dr. Garry Hartstein, the bout was stopped.

Walker was visibly upset and had to be held back from charging Ankalaev before UFC CEO Dana White finally entered the ring and was able to simmer down the situation.

The match was thought to provide a potential title shot for the winner.

In a middleweight battle, Ikram Aliskerov (15-1-0) used a quick jab to wobble Warlley Alves (15-7-0) and then dazed him with a vicious flying knee. Aliskerov then used a barrage of punches to win by TKO at 2:07 of the first round. It was Aliskerov’s seventh consecutive victoryand third in a row in the first round.

Said Nurmagomedov (18-3-0) opened the main card by making quick work of Muin Gafurov (18-6-0), getting the bantamweight win via a guillotine choke at 1:13 of the first round.

The fight was instead fought as a Catchweight bout, and Carmouche’s belt was not on the line.

Not that it would’ve mattered. Carmouche prevailed by TKO in the fifth round after injuring Macfarlane’s knee.

The fight between two women with San Diego ties was one of three of Saturday’s main-event mixed martial arts bouts. The event also included a 13-fight undercard.

Macfarlane, a San Diego State graduate who hails from Honolulu, weighed in at 126.6 pounds on Friday — above the 125-pound weight limit. As a result, Carmouche’s Flyweight belt was not on the line.

The two longtime training partners nonetheless engaged in a scrappy fight that turned in the third round when Carmouche caught Macfarlane with a nasty right kick to the left knee area.

Macfarlane, who had a slight edge after the first two rounds, briefly went down from that kick and did so again later in the third when Carmouche caught her in the same area.

Macfarlane gamely fought on, but struggled to put weight on the injured leg the remainder of the fight.

Carmouche continued to target Macfarlane’s left knee in the fourth round, dropping her twice again while consistently staying out of Macfarlane’s punching range with good footwork and an occasional jab.

Carmouche, who goes by the nickname “The Girl-Rilla” ended the fight early in the fifth with yet another hard right kick to Macfarlane’s injured knee and was awarded the victory via TKO.

Macfarlane left the ring on a cart and immediately received medical attention in the dressing area.

Carmouche, who lives in San Diego and trains out of The Arena MMA, earned her seventh consecutive victory and improved to 20-7. Macfarlane, a former Flyweight champion, fell to 13-3.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult,” Carmouche said. “She’s a friend and it was really hard. There’s several friends I’d much rather get into the ring against. She has helped Bellator so much. If it wasn’t for Ilima, I wouldn’t be here. None of us would be here. So, hats off to Ilima. She showed heart and didn’t stop.”

Macfarlane’s failure to make weight put a further damper on an event that originally was scheduled to feature four title fights.

Linton Vassell was forced to back out of his scheduled Heavyweight title fight with division champ Ryan Bader last week due to an undisclosed illness.

The night’s two main events saw Cris Cyborg retain her Featherweight title with a first-round TKO of Cat Zingano, who lives and trains out of San Diego. Usman Nurmagomedov successfully defend his Lightweight title with a win via fifth-round decision over Brent Primus.

Bishop remains undefeated

Jena Bishop, who lives and trains out of San Diego, improved to 6-0 (3-0 in Bellator series) with an impressive first-round victory via armbar submission over Ilara Joanne (11-8) in front of a slew of cheering friends and family.

Bishop (Alliance Jiu Jitsu San Diego) entered the event as the 80th ranked Flyweight worldwide and 18th in the United States. Three of her victories have come via submission and it was her first such victory since joining Bellator.

“I knew she was tough, so I was just happy to get my first win with a submission in Bellator,” Bishop said. “It was fought at a super fast pace and I just wanted to be the aggressor right from the start, really put the pressure on and it worked out.”

Bishop said she’s ready for her night fight as soon as possible.

“I’ll take on anyone they put in front of me,” Bishop said. “Just whatever comes along. I’ll continue to train hard and be ready.”

Notable

Alberto Garcia (Escondido Fight Club) lost a tough three-round Bantamweight bout to the favored Bobby Seronio III and Herman Terrado (San Diego’s Und1sputed Boxing and MMA) was defeated in three rounds by Mukhamed Berkhamov in a Middleweight bout.

For a year or two now, the MMA stars have been at each other, lobbing claims of ducking one another. Cyborg has said Zingano wouldn’t step up. Zingano jabbed her opponent for taking a break from the sport.

All the verbal sparring will be put to rest Saturday when Cyborg defends her featherweight championship against Zingano in one of three title bouts at Bellator 300 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

“I feel thankful, happy, you know? We did a great camp. I feel we did everything to be ready, we did a great team,” Cyborg, 38, said Tuesday. “I’m excited, you know, and I’m so thankful because Bellator 300 is gonna be history and a big part of the history of the sport and the history in Bellator. It is making me really excited.”

For years, the two fought in separate divisions. Cyborg (26-2, 1 NC) has dominated at 145 pounds, with the Brazilian striking sensation becoming the sport’s first Grand Slam champion with title belts in Strikeforce, Invicta FC, UFC and Bellator, which came in her promotion debut via a one-sided dethroning of Julia Budd via fourth-round TKO at Bellator 238 in January 2020 at The Forum.

Zingano (14-4) toiled in the UFC’s 135-pound bantamweight division for more than five years. Her 14-second armbar loss to the iconic Ronda Rousey at Staples Center in 2015 is her only other major championship fight.

But the testament to Zingano’s hallmark toughness and determination are the victories that led to that title shot. No other fighter has finishes of former UFC champs Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes.

What’s more, when Zingano punished Tate for a third-round TKO in a Fight of the Night in April 2013, she was the first mother to ever compete in the Octagon. Her victory over Nunes, another third-round TKO in September 2014, came on the heels of major knee surgery in the summer of 2013 and the suicide death of her husband in January 2014.

The Rousey loss, however, ended a 9-0 to start to her career and was the start of a three-fight skid, which Zingano doesn’t regret but acknowledges wasn’t ideal for her well-being.

“My heart was broken, my confidence was broken,” Zingano, 41, said in a recent interview. “Like I had a lot of, you know, physical and mental health issues going on. I was really struggling and fighting every single day to smile.”

Zingano underwent a major life overhaul, moving herself and her son from Colorado to San Diego in 2016. She joined Alliance MMA in Chula Vista before eventually deciding to go her own way with a team of independent coaches in 2018.

Upon moving up to featherweight, Zingano suffered a controversial first-round TKO loss to Megan Anderson after getting poked in the eye on a head kick at UFC 232 at the end of 2018. Eight months later, the UFC cut Zingano, who found her way to Bellator.

She has since rattled off four consecutive victories, the latest a grueling, grappling-heavy unanimous decision over Leah McCourt at Bellator 293 on March 31 before a partisan crowd in Temecula to earn the shot at Cyborg in her new hometown.

“I feel really lucky that I’ve established so much out here and that I’m so comfortable here. And I feel so much support, so it’ll be great,” Zingano said. “It’s nice to feel appreciated and to appreciate people back. Like I want to put on such a great show for them and do this right in front of them. I want to be the new champion right in front of all these people that have had my back ever since I came out here.”

While Cyborg makes her home in Huntington Beach, she once lived in San Diego. And the phenom, who like Zingano is unbeaten in Bellator since parting ways with the UFC in 2019 and signing the most lucrative deal in women’s MMA history, is confident Cyborg Nation will have her back Saturday.

“Nothing personal against her, nothing like this, but you know, I know she’s continuing to want to fight for the title and just it’s gonna be a great fight,” Cyborg said. “I think it’s gonna be a huge fight.”

Cyborg hasn’t fought in the cage since April 2022, opting to dabble in a boxing career with two unanimous-decision victories last year. Zingano says she was left frustrated and for a while believed her March fight with McCourt might be for an interim title.

With Cyborg back defending her belt, the champ is ready to test her all-around skills against her challenger. While she is known for her devastating striking, Cyborg points to her black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and two gold medals from the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships as a sign that she’s willing to go to the mat.

She says the key Saturday, as she’s efforted to do in all her Bellator fights, is being patient.

“I know I have five rounds to finish the fight. So I want to see the opportunities. If I have the opportunity for a submission, I can. If I feel to stay striking, I can,” Cyborg said. “I want to use the experience throughout the fight. I know she has experience too. But you know, I train real hard to see the opportunities. When I see what opportunity shows up, I know what I’ll be ready to do.”

Zingano, for her part, exudes confidence ahead of their 25-minute clash. She says she looks forward to testing Cyborg physically and mentally.

“She’s never fought anyone like me. She’s never ever put hands on anyone like me,” Zingano said. “You know, we’re completely different mentally. And I think she breaks. I think she’s not as strong in her head as she tries to lead on, you know? I don’t really have anything else to say.”

Bellator 300

Title fights: Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Brent Primus; featherweight champion Cris Cyborg vs. Cat Zingano; bantamweight champion Liz Carmouche vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

When: Saturday

Where: Pechanga Arena, San Diego

How to watch: Prelims (3:30 p.m., Bellator MMA YouTube, Showtime Sports YouTube, Pluto TV); main card (7 p.m., Showtime)

The 25-year-old heavyweight from Clovis, a football player and two-time All-American wrestler at Fresno State, has things other than the end of his career occupying him leading up to his professional MMA debut on Saturday in San Diego at the Pechanga Arena.

“I feel good. I feel excited,” said Hokit, who meets fellow debutant Spencer Smith in a three-round contest to open the preliminary portion of the Bellator 300 event. “I acknowledge there is some stuff that’s kind of up in the air because I’ve never stepped in a cage and competed against another man.”

If Newsom signs AB 1136 into law, Hokit and more than 400 mixed martial artists currently licensed by the California State Athletic Commission would need to accrue 39 scheduled rounds in the Golden State starting next year to vest into the retirement benefit fund.

Introduced Feb. 15 by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), the pending law does not retroactively cover fighters.

Mechanisms in the language of the bill – on top of a $1 assessment on event tickets sold – could deliver revenue “generated through the sale of special interest license plates and other commission-branded items, including, but not limited to, sport paraphernalia and souvenirs, and by contributions from mixed martial artists, managers, promoters, or any one or more of these persons.”

Andy Foster, the athletic commission’s Executive Officer, envisions multiple streams of revenue for the pension plan that was mentioned among seven stated goals in the commission’s strategic plan from 2019 to 2023.

“This isn’t general fund money,” Foster said. “The taxpayer is not paying one penny of this. It’s all through promoter assessments and various revenue streams that the commission creates. This is not an assessment on taxpayers to pay for fighter’s pensions.”

Discussions about extending a benefit to MMA fighters occurred in 2015 and 2019, and it looked on track prior to the pandemic.

Because legislative findings going back to 2006 did not include a pension program, many fighters in the busiest combat sports state in the country went without the same protection boxers had since 1982.

“I don’t think the intention was to ever leave them out, but the practicality was they were left out and so now they have their own plan that’s based very closely upon the same model as the boxer’s pension program,” said Foster, calling it a “small oversight.”

“Now what can we do to fund this thing?” he wondered. “What can we create that will actually have long-lasting effects for the long-term benefits of these athletes?”

Lessons learned from the implementation of the boxing safety net, which faced criticism for failing to notify boxers with money coming to them, were considered during the legislative process around the MMA fund.

A report by the L.A. Times in May revealed that only 6% of the nearly 200 boxers, spouses or beneficiaries who qualified made a claim last year. Many did not know it existed.

In the wake of that reporting, Foster noted the commission embraced ideas to improve how they inform boxers around the world. They also updated contractual language to allow CSAC to mail yearly financial statements to fighters who vest.

“It goes both ways,” the executive officer said. “We’re putting this in our license application so fighters know and are educated on retirement benefits, but they’ve got to let us know when they change addresses. We can’t play a guessing game. If you move, you need to tell us so we have your address on file.”

After two seasons living on the outer edge of the San Francisco 49ers roster as an undrafted free agent and practice squad player, Hokit, a former fullback, heard talk from veteran players about the NFL’s pension and 401ks.

Admittedly, he did not pay much attention “because you just think your career is going to last forever and that’s not the reality of it,” Hokit said. “And so if you can jump on, planning out your future now, that’s a key to success.

“It’s cool that California is doing something about that.”

The size of the combat sports business in California is equivalent to Japan or the UK, Foster said, and last year featured more boxing than Nevada, New York, New Jersey and Texas combined.

The state is on track to regulate 150 professional MMA and boxing events in 2023 as it closes in on pre-pandemic levels.

Following a recent round of payouts, the boxing pension, which is funded by an 88-cent fee on event tickets (soon to be a dollar), stands at $4.8 million.

Had the MMA pension existed when California began regulating MMA in 2006, 168 fighters, including female pioneer Cris “Cyborg” Santos and veteran Henry Corrales, who both fight at Bellator 300, would be eligible for a one-time payment approaching $20,000 after they turn 50, or earlier than that through an educational or vocational benefit.

In theory, the fund, a bank account maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs, could grow to the point that benefits get extended to the likes of Cyborg, the great Brazilian who fought 10 times in California, where she settled, or Corrales, a 37-year-old featherweight from La Mirada who came up through the area’s regional circuit. With his three-rounder in San Diego against Kai Kamaka III, Corrales could vest twice over.

For Josh Hokit, it will take 13 fights in the state – fewer if he participates in five-round championship bouts – and waiting before the MMA pension will be worth thinking about beyond the bigger picture.

“If it continues to grow,” he said, “then for sure, sign me up to fight in California.”

LAS VEGAS — There had been more than whispers that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was well past his prime.

He put such talk to rest – for now at least – on Saturday night.

“Nobody can beat this Canelo,” Alvarez said after he thoroughly dominated Jermell Charlo to retain his unified super middleweight championship.

Alvarez (60-2-2) won by scores of 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109. The statistics were just as one-sided. Alvarez landed 42 punches to Charlo’s 11, almost all power punches for both boxers.

Charlo, the unified junior middleweight champ, moved up two weight classes to take on Alvarez.

“I just felt like I wasn’t me in there,” Charlo said. “I don’t make excuses for myself, so it is what it is. I take my punches and roll with it.”

Even though Charlo (35-2-1) was the one moving up, he is 4 inches taller than the 5-foot-8 Alvarez and with a 2½-inch reach advantage. That didn’t matter as Alvarez promised before the fight, saying his experience would prevail in the battle of 33-year-olds.

Now Charlo is ready to step back, saying he would love to take on 40-0 Terence Crawford, the reigning welterweight and super welterweight champion.

“I’ll move back to 154 (pounds),” Charlo said. “This morning, I weighed like 172 or 173 pounds. I’ll grandfather myself into this. I’m proud of myself. He didn’t knock me out. He knocked all them other guys out. He hit me with some hard shots. I thought I got mine off.”

Entering this fight, Alvarez lost by unanimous decision to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, won by unanimous decision a year ago over past-his-prime Gennady Golovkin and then easily beat John Ryder in May on the scorecards.

His performance against Charlo figured to be a measuring stick on whether Alvarez could recreate some of his previous magic. There’s no doubt now that he can, but the question is whether the Mexican-born fighter can sustain it.

Who he fights next is uncertain.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has declared David Benavidez will be his mandatory challenger for the super middleweight belt.

But Alvarez has not committed to facing Benavidez, a 26-year-old who is 27-0 with all but four wins by knockout. If Alvarez turns down Benavidez, the WBC likely would vacate his championship.

When asked after the fight about his future plans, Alvarez said, “Cinco de Mayo against whoever. I don’t care.”

Alvarez spent his training camp preparing to take it to Charlo’s body, and that’s exactly what he did. Round after round, Alvarez backed up Charlo, throwing one punch after another at his midsection.

“We know he’s a great fighter,” Alvarez said. “He knows how to move in the ring. We worked on attacking the body for three months. For three months in the mountains without my family, without everything.”

Both fighters were cautious early, feeling each other out without taking any chances, but Alvarez then became the aggressor in the second round as Charlo repeatedly backed up.

Alvarez delivered even more power punches in the fourth round as the Houston resident continued to play defense, apparently hoping Alvarez would provide him an opening. But Alvarez moved forward without any apparent concern that would happen.

Finally, in the fifth, Charlo delivered some shots that landed on Alvarez in what was easily his best round. Even so, Alvarez got his own shots in with about 10 seconds left that backed up Charlo.

Perhaps feeding off the end of that round, Alvarez went back to being in control in the sixth. He went after Charlo hard late in the round, landing several shots with him against the ropes and exciting the pro-Alvarez crowd.

About a minute into the seventh round, Alvarez sent Charlo to his right knee with a right hook and right uppercut. It was just the second time that Charlo had been knocked down in his career. Charlo got back up, but Alvarez was fully in charge.

He wasn’t as aggressive for the rest of the fight, but he didn’t need to be. Alvarez still landed his share of shots in a one-sided performance.

“I wasn’t disappointed not to get the knockout,” Alvarez said. “I feel great. That’s why we fight 12 rounds. If I don’t get the knockout, I get 12 rounds to show I’m the best, that I’m the better fighter. That’s why it’s 12 rounds, to show who’s better.”

LAS VEGAS — It didn’t take long for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to consider Las Vegas his second home.

He came here to fight Jose Cotto on May 10, 2010, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and right away Alvarez felt the support from his Mexican compatriots.

Alvarez won that fight by technical knockout in the second round, the first of many trips to Las Vegas. He is back again, this time as the unified super middleweight champion preparing to face junior middleweight champ Jermell Charlo on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

This will be Alvarez’s 17th fight in Las Vegas.

“I think it’s the capital of boxing,” Alvarez said of Las Vegas. “I just feel (it’s) like coming home because a lot of Mexicans go there and support me. So that’s why I like fighting in Vegas, and there’s a lot of history there.”

The 33-year-old Alvarez has been a big part of that history, whether it’s beating Gennadiy Golovkin twice with another fight ending in a split draw, or defeating Shane Mosley, Daniel Jacobs or Sergey Kovalev. His favorite memory is of the one-sided unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto in November 2015.

“He’s a great champion,” Alvarez said in the ring after that fight, “but now it’s my era.”

Alvarez (59-2-2) has the chance to add to his legacy when he faces the 33-year-old Charlo, who is moving up two weight classes for this fight.

Even though Charlo (35-1-1) is the one moving up, he is 4 inches taller than the 5-foot-8 Alvarez and has a 2½-inch reach advantage. Alvarez said his experience will help him counter the size deficiency.

“I’ve been in the ring with a lot of styles, all kind of fighters,” Alvarez said. “My whole career, I’ve been fighting with (boxers) taller than me, so I know how.”

Charlo, who lives in Houston, already is talking about a rematch, which likely would come if he beats Alvarez.

“I don’t think Canelo has faced a fighter of my caliber,” Charlo said. “He’s been in there with great fighters, but there’s something I bring to the table that’s a lot different than anyone he’s seen. I defy the science of boxing.

“I’m one of the guys from the younger era and I’ve been fighting my whole life. What I’ve been through in life, a lot of people can’t compare to that. I deserve to be in my position and now I get to prove my worthiness.”

If Alvarez prevails, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has declared David Benavidez will be his mandatory challenger for the super middleweight belt.

But Alvarez has not committed to facing Benavidez, a 26-year-old who is 27-0 with all but four by knockout. If Alvarez beats Charlo and turns down Benavidez, the WBC likely would vacate his championship.

“I’m going to win (versus Charlo), but I don’t know what is next,” Alvarez said. “I’m going to sit down with my team and talk about it because I’m 100% focused on this fight.”

As for his potential options post-Charlo, Alvarez said his intention would be to “make the best fights out there. We will see after this fight.”

The fight with Charlo should be enough on its own to capture Alvarez’s focus, especially given his most recent bouts.

He lost by unanimous decision to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, though all three judges had the fight close at 115-113. Alvarez rebounded with a unanimous decision a year ago over Golovkin and then easily beat John Ryder in May on the scorecards. But Triple G had seen his best boxing days, and Ryder was simply outclassed.

Charlo will tell a lot more about where Alvarez truly stands, and Alvarez is eager to put that trio of lackluster performances (by his standards) behind him. The odds are in his favor by a considerable amount – Canelo is minus-480 at FanDuel Sportsbook.

“I agree that a couple fights I don’t look the same, but that doesn’t mean other things,” Alvarez said during an ESPN interview this week. “I feel fresh, I feel young and I feel strong. I feel in my prime, and you will see Saturday.

“He’s calling me out for a long time, for 10 years maybe, and he never believe in my skills. These kind of fights, big fights, motivate myself. I never overlook any fighter. I know what he’s going to bring and I’m ready. He hasn’t experienced this kind of level of fight.

“I want history for my career. I want to achieve a lot of things. This is another one of them and I can’t wait.”

Alvarez’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso, said this has been one of Canelo’s most intense training sessions.

“We’ve left behind the injuries and setbacks and we’re ready to show that Canelo is prepared to put on a great fight for the fans,” Reynoso said. “We’re very motivated to be here in Las Vegas for a great fight. We’re going to prove how motivated we are by giving the fans a great fight.”

And for Pico to ignore the pain and will his left shoulder, clearly disengaged from the socket after a grappling exchange as his MMA coach tried valiantly to pop it back in between rounds, to obey and implore the referee he was still fit to fight … to no avail.

With his shoulder repaired and tested, and with a victory already under his belt, Pico prepares for his toughest fight to date when he hopes to celebrate his 27th birthday Saturday with a victory over Dublin featherweight Pedro Carvalho on Saturday in the Bellator 199 co-main event in Ireland.

“My shoulder feels the strongest it’s ever been. Everybody asks me about it. I said I wish that I was able to get it on my right shoulder because it feels so stable,” said the Whittier native, who now lives in Albuquerque and trains at Jackson Wink MMA Academy. “I had MRIs done on my right shoulder just for peace of mind … and my right shoulder looks amazing.”

As for the surgery itself, don’t ask Pico for specifics. To the untrained eye, it sure looked like a dislocation after he emerged from a tenuous first round on the mat with Jeremy Kennedy at Bellator 286 on Oct. 1 at the Long Beach Arena.

But Pico, who admits it sounds bad, wasn’t sweating the details. “He used these doctor’s terms, which went through one ear and out the other because I don’t understand,” he confessed.

So while the former St. John Bosco wrestling star might have a new look, with a beard and his hair no longer tightly cropped, it’s the same old Pico – laser-focused on what’s next and how soon he could get back in the cage in his pursuit of becoming the 145-pound champion.

“I just think I asked him, ‘What, I’m gonna have to have surgery?’ Yes. ‘So when will I be able to fight again?’ He said about four months,” Pico recalled. “I said, ‘When’s the surgery?’ He said in about two weeks because there was numbness in my fingers, so that had to go away. It went away, then I had the surgery and then I fought four months later. It’s kind of crazy.”

It’s as simple as that. You hurt me? I’ll fix it, I’ll come back, I’ll find you and I’ll hurt you. And Pico (11-4) wouldn’t mind exacting some revenge. For his last fight, Pico was gunning for three former opponents with whom he has scores to settle.

According to Pico, Henry Corrales, who recorded a stunning come-from-behind knockout of Pico in 2019, turned it down. Adam Borics, who defeated Pico by TKO in his next fight just five months later, was recovering from an injury.

And Kennedy, after adding a TKO win over Pico due to the shoulder injury to his résumé, opted to fight and defeat Carvalho by unanimous decision in February as he seeks his own title shot.

Instead, for his comeback fight in April, Pico wasn’t thrilled when he was given debuting Brazilian Otto Rodrigues. When Rodrigues had to back out because of an injury, Pico fought fill-in James Gonzalez, mixing vicious body shots and his elite wrestling for a dominant unanimous decision at Bellator 295 in Honolulu.

“I’m happy that I went through the rounds. It was actually a big growth for me because he was just an awkward fighter,” Pico said. “And I needed to feel that and just kind of go out three rounds. It was good for my development. I think it helped me a lot.”

Carvalho (13-7) is arguably Pico’s most battle-tested opponent, even if he has lost four of his past six fights.

A Portuguese southpaw who trains in Dublin, Carvalho has been nothing but respectful. He recognizes Pico, who had won six in a row before his loss to Kennedy, is a significantly different fighter than the one who was rushed into his Bellator career and started 4-3.

“I call him a fighter’s fighter. He goes in there to win and to fight. He’s not there to hold or wait for the time to pass, he is there to hurt you and finish you,” Carvalho said during a media session Thursday. “We never know what’s going to happen in a fight. We can imagine it in a million ways, and it happens in one way we don’t picture it. He fights in a very aggressive way. For sure I’m going to have to handle his shots. I prefer to have him throwing at me and to hurt me.

“Fighting Pico, I must be aware of his explosiveness. His danger makes me alert.”

Niceties aside, while they are appreciated and Pico says Carvalho sounds like a great guy, it doesn’t change his intentions.

“I know it sounds very harsh but … I don’t really have anything good things to say other than on Saturday night I’m gonna really hurt him,” Pico said.

Bellator 299

When: Saturday

Where: 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland

How to watch: prelims (8 a.m., Bellator MMA YouTube); main card (1 p.m., Showtime)

That first book, “Fighting Chance,” was self-published in 2020, released just before COVID-19 sent us all searching for books and TV shows and other distractions to keep us occupied during a lockdown. It detailed her pursuit of the sweet (yet savage) science two decades before, when she reported at length on a boxing gym in Ventura County that served at-risk youth and, at age 28, felt compelled to put on the gloves and get in the ring herself. And it won literary awards, including first place in the creative fiction and memoir category in the 2020 North Street Book Prize competition for self-published works.

“When I first retired from boxing (in 2000) I was approached by Rod Holcomb with Paramount,” she said this week. “I think I’d just turned 30 and no book was written yet.  And I’ll never forget this because I was invited to Paramount. It was amazing. They wined and dined me and we’re sitting around the table and they asked me, you know, if I’d be willing to help them write the story.

“And at the time I wasn’t ready to reveal everything that had happened to me, and I knew that’d be an important part of the story. Back then I was afraid to be that vulnerable. I was afraid I’d be judged. So I said no in that meeting. This was like being given something amazing on a silver platter, and I said no out of fear.

“I look back now and I realize that I wasn’t ready (then) to reveal everything that happened. And now I am.”

And now she’s getting, shall we say, a second chance.

Producer Slavica Bogdanov and Empowering Entertainment will film Doyle’s story, with “A Fighting Chance” as the working title. It is an independent production, and thus not shut down by the writers’ and actors’ strikes against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. But while Bogdanov has a director (Johnny Martin) lined up, she can’t announce or even secure the cast until she has an interim agreement or waiver between the film production company and the Screen Actors Guild.

“We’re waiting for that final step,” she said. “But everything’s lined up … All the paperwork has been done.”

Assuming things go smoothly, filming should begin in mid-November – in New Jersey, not Hollywood – with a release date to be determined.

Bogdanov, who is based in Florida, said in a Zoom conversation that she actively seeks “true stories, inspiring stories. I like female leads. I like underdogs that achieve what’s impossible to achieve.

“I came across a post where I read about ‘Fighting Chance,’ so I ordered the book and I fell in love completely head over heels with the story. And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this has to be done.’ … I  thought, why not make a female Rocky that young girls can really associate themselves with?”

It is about boxing, true, but it goes deeper. Bogdanov said the script would also be “about fighting depression and how we’re all on this journey of fighting that dark side. … I thought it could encourage a lot of people to just open up about depression and talk about it more openly and maybe, you know, enlighten a younger generation that doesn’t even know that what they’re dealing with might be depression.”

Doyle readily acknowledges that she battled those demons. She did not go into as much detail in her book as she could have about those battles, though she acknowledged that there’s “a thread of depression in the book,” and she appreciated that many who read the book picked up on it.

“I had a lot of healing to do,” she said in our phone conversation this past week. “My father was still alive in 2020. And I remember him telling me, you can’t let the story die with you. You have to tell this story. And then my father passed away. And, you know, that was always something he stuck in my brain that it needed to be told.

“And so I just dove in and started writing. I had journaled the entire time I was boxing, I had tons of notes. So all the content was there. I just had to sit down and go through it. And it was hard. I also had a dear friend, Ivor Davis, who is an author out here in Ventura, who also encouraged me to write the boxing book. I was actually working on another book at the time, and I was picking his brain about that book and he said, ‘You need to write your boxing book first. You have to write your story first.’”

From her description, the process of writing the memoir was painful but cathartic, paralleling the philosophy she carried into the ring as a two-time Golden Gloves champion: “The only way out is through.”  In other words, straight ahead.

“I had hoped that it would be helpful to other people, and so far, so good,” she said. “I’ve received nothing but really lovely feedback from people, people who need help, who have battled with depression or battled with domestic violence, abusive relationships. You know, those have been the most valuable people who have approached me since the book came out, who’ve gone through something similar or are involved in something similar and need a way out. That’s been the greatest blessing so far.”

Doyle has since written another non-fiction book, “The Oath,” based on the story of Flo Trapani and her experiences as one of the first female officers in the Simi Valley Police Department. She is currently working on a third book, a fictional work on caregivers.

When Bogdanov contacted Doyle to express her interest in making the movie, “it was overwhelming and very humbling and surreal,” Doyle said. “And it still feels that way.

“…I’m very grateful that I was given this opportunity again, because I believe that’s quite rare. I knew the second time around it was something that I needed to do, something God wanted me to do. And so I’m just continuing to put God first with everything and every decision I make.

“When I do that, it turns out well.”

jalexander@scng.com