Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez announced himself as the best super-middleweight on the planet with a majestic display against a game but thoroughly outclassed Callum Smith at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday night.
Faster, fiercer and more spiteful, Canelo cantered to a clear points victory in a bout that was expected to pose him problems due to Smith’s significant advantages in size.
But the great Mexican made a mockery of sizeable disadvantages in height and reach to befuddle Smith in every department, stepping inside the Scouser’s long arms to batter him to head and body.
Scores were 119-109 (twice) and 117-111 as Canelo claimed Smith’s WBA Super 168lbs title and the vacant WBC crown. A socially distanced crowd of 11,426 were in attendance.
“I did a great job after a 13-month layoff,” Canelo told DAZN’s Chris Mannix afterwards through a translator. “Smith is a great fighter, but like you see, I did a great job. I’m the best in the world. Since the first round, I tried to see what he brings, the skills or whatever. But like you see, I showed what I am.
“I feel great at 168lbs. I don’t want to fight with the scales. After 13 months, we’ll see what I can do. One of the greatest nights and I go for more. Unify, I want all the belts. It doesn’t matter who is there.”
Photo: Michell Farsi/Matchroom Boxing USA.
Smith paid tribute to Canelo but felt that the bout may prove to be his last at 168lbs before a move to light-heavyweight. It was later reported that the Liverpool man may have suffered a detached left bicep in defeat – a claim seemingly reinforced by the misshapen nature of his arm at the end of the contest.
“I’m devastated. Listen, I never wanted to lose. I come here to win. It just wasn’t my night, a few little things. Listen, he was good tonight. Fair play to him. I had a sore [left] arm – he kept hitting me in it,” said Smith. “But yeah, no excuses. I think I may have outgrown the weight. I don’t feel as dominant at 168 as I used to be. But listen, no excuses – he is very good.
“He is a good fighter, a pound-for-pound star, but I just think it could have been a better day for me tonight. I performed, he performed, he is the better man today.
“He’s just smart, just clever. He closes ground without throwing. He sets little traps and keeps you thinking constantly and, before you know it, he’s closed the ground.
“I maybe let him close the ground a couple of times, a little too easy, but he’s a good fighter. I’ve got to give him credit but I’m a little bit disappointed.”
The die was cast in the opening round as the brilliant Canelo seized an early advantage, snapping back Smith’s head with a number of hurtful jabs. In the second, the Mexican marvel unleashed his vaunted body attack as Smith struggled to establish a foothold in the fight. A thudding jab sent Smith into the ropes later in the round.
Photo: Michelle Farsi/Matchroom Boxing USA.
Smith (27-1, 19 KOs) had a better third but was stunned in the fourth as Alvarez unloaded his greater artillery in a one-sided session. It swiftly became a beatdown. The waspish Canelo was in dominant form, defensively brilliant and weaving inside Smith’s long arms to sting him to head and body. A right uppercut in the seventh sent a bewildered Smith careening into the ropes.
The Scouser looked downcast and completely at a loss in the eighth as Alvarez battered him on the ropes, with a right uppercut rocking his head back theatrically. That shot hurt Smith again in the ninth and forced him to hold to stifle a relentless assault. Another right hand bundled Smith into the ropes later in the round – he simply had no answer to the whirlwind coming at him.
Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom USA.
With his nose bloodied, Smith was told he had ‘one more round’ by trainer Joe Gallagher after that torrid ninth, but managed to survive through the championship rounds with creditable grit. But he couldn’t repel the ceaseless Canelo. When Smith landed a flush right hand in the 10th, the blow had no effect whatsoever on the marauding Mexican.
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) continued to walk Smith down to the final bell with stiff jabs and hurtful right hands, effortlessly slicing through the Scouser’s defences to earn a momentous victory.
After a 13-month layoff, the king has returned.
Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA.
Main image: Michelle Farsi/Matchroom Boxing USA.