Canelo Alvarez knocked down and dominated Jermell Charlo to retain his undisputed super middleweight crown by unanimous decision in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) was in almost complete control by the halfway mark and dropped Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) in the seventh round before settling for a wide win on the scorecards at T-Mobile Arena.
Alvarez marked his return to Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions with a display which resembled somewhere near his brilliant best and was easily his best performance since his last bout with PBC, which saw him knockout Caleb Plant in November 2021.
The Mexican great looked sharp from the outset and looked to assert his superior size advantage on Charlo, who moved up two weight classes for this bout from super welterweight where he held all four belts.
Alvarez built up a strong lead after four rounds, finding the body of his rival frequently and pushing him back onto the ropes with eye-catching combinations.
Charlo, who was boxing on the back foot, was struggling to fend the 33-year-old off in the early stages, but had his best round to date in the fifth, connecting to head and body.
Alvarez, who outpointed John Ryder in a homecoming clash in Mexico in May, rarely appeared troubled or overly concerned by Charlo’s power and the four-weight world champion made the crucial breakthrough in the seventh round.
A hard right hand landed flush on the Louisiana native, who wobbled and staggered to the canvas moments later.
‘Iron Man’ rose to his feet and saw the remainder of the round out in composed style, but his chances of victory appeared to rapidly fade in that moment.
To his credit, Charlo who was fighting for the first time since knocking out Brian Castano last May, staged a late onslaught in a desperate attempt to wrestle back some control of the contest and landed some ripping body shots in the ninth.
However, Alvarez continued to march forward and displayed vintage defensive skills to frustrate his rival.
Charlo swung wildly in the final round knowing only a knockout would be enough, but Alvarez negated the threat and was handed a comfortable victory on the scorecards.
Scores of 118-109 and another at 119-108 confirmed his dominance and ensured that he retained his WBC, WBA ‘super’, WBO and IBF titles.
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Canelo, who signed a three-fight deal with PBC prior to the Charlo bout, was coy on his next opponent, although a long-awaited clash with David Benavidez or a meeting with Jermell’s twin brother, Jermall who was ringside, could be next.
“This Canelo,” he told SHOWTIME post-fight.
“Nobody can beat this Canelo.”
Charlo, who suffered a second professional loss, confirmed that he will now return to super welterweight and called for a showdown with undisputed welterweight champion, Terence Crawford, who is expected to face Errol Spence Jr in a rematch next year first.
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“I wanna fight Terence Crawford,” he told SHOWTIME post-fight.
“I can fight Terence Crawford in my weight division.
“I’ll fight Terence Crawford. I’m waiting.”
Lubin stuns Ramos Jr
Erickson Lubin brought an end to Jesus Ramos Jr’s unbeaten streak with a highly-contentious unanimous decision win in the co-main event.
In a bout starved of action, Ramos Jr (20-1, 16 KOs) appeared to edge the contest, but it was former world title challenger, Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) who won their WBA super welterweight title eliminator, with scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
The decision was met with loud boos by a large portion of the crowd, who felt that Ramos Jr had done more than enough to take the victory.
Barrios battles past Ugas
Mario Barrios secured a career-best victory and the WBC interim welterweight title, dropping Yordenis Ugas twice on route to a unanimous decision win.
Barrios (28-2, 18 KOs) floored former welterweight world champion, Ugas (27-6, 12 KOs) with a stiff jab in the second.
The pair exchanged throughout their 12 round affair, but Ugas, who was fighting for the first time since suffering an eye injury in defeat to Errol Spence Jr in April 2022, sustained a similar fate to his right eye against the American.
Despite regular checks from the ringside doctor between rounds, the 37-year-old was determined to continue and put in a spirited effort, but was dropped again in the final round with a pinpoint left hook.
Former WBA super lightweight titlist, Barrios looked to finish Ugas off, but the Cuban saw the final bell, losing comfortably by scores of 117-108 and 118-107×2.
‘El Azteca’ would become full WBC champion if undisputed champion, Terence Crawford moves up in weight and vacates his titles.
Garcia stops Resendiz
Elijah Garcia (16-0, 13 KOs) continued his impressive rise with the 20-year-old southpaw becoming the first man to stop Jose Armando Resendiz (14-2, 10 KOs) in the eighth round.
ELIJAH GARCIA IS LIKE THAT! 🤯
Quick hands TKOs Armando Resendiz. ⚡️
WATCH #CaneloCharlo in the UK & Ireland only as part of your regular DAZN subscription. pic.twitter.com/UqwMBxlq96
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) October 1, 2023
Sanchez retires Alexander
Frank Sanchez moved closer to a heavyweight world title shot after retaining his WBC Continental Americas crown with Scott Alexander retiring after four rounds.
Sanchez (23-0, 16 KOs) who dropped Alexander (17-6-2, 9 KOs) in the opening round, is ranked at four with the WBC behind Tyson Fury, who signed his contract to face unified champion, Oleksandr Usyk on Friday.
Remaining Undercard
Former light heavyweight world champion, Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KOs) made it three consecutive victories since losing to Artur Beterbiev, knocking out Isaac Rodrigues (28-5, 22 KOs) in two rounds.
Elsewhere, Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (28-3-1, 17 KOs) knocked out Yeis Gabriel Solano (15-3, 10 KOs) in six, whilst rising Kazakh super middleweight, Bek Nurmaganbet (11-0, 9 KOs) notched another stoppage win, halting the previously undefeated Abimbola Osundairo (5-1, 3 KOs).
Terrell Gausha (24-3-1, 12 KOs) secured his first victory at middleweight edging past KeAndrae Leatherwood (23-9-1, 13 KOs) by majority decision.
