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Canelo Álvarez stepped into the ring for Saturday’s return to San Antonio who already bears the label as the pound-for-pound king of the sport. He walked away with a couple of super middleweight world titles and a warning to anyone wearing a belt when he said, “We’re coming for more.”
Alvarez won a major world title in his fourth division by beating Callum Smith inside the Alamodome in a unanimous decision (119-109 twice, 117-111). The Mexican superstar, who entered with the secondary WBA title, captured the full WBA belt from Smith and the vacant WBC championship.
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“I did a great job after 13 months off. I am very happy,” Alvarez said. “I am the best in the world. During the third round, I tried to see what he brings in terms of skills, but I showed what I am.”
Not only was Alvarez never in trouble, but he also took away Smith’s monstrous seven-inch height advantage by coming in and pinning Smith against the ropes. Alvarez worked the body and split Smith’s high guard at will with hard uppercuts and right hands.
Alvarez, 30, was even more statistically dominant. He slid Smith’s powerful punches left to right. Alvarez also outscored him by a 209-97 margin in 12 rounds. In addition to landing 43 percent of his shots overall, Alvarez landed a dominant 57 percent of his power shots.
“I feel great at 168. I don’t want to fight on a scale,” Alvarez said. “After 13 months, you saw what I can do. This is one of the best nights for me and one of the best nights that I have had unifying titles. Soon, I will go for more.”
Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs), who also holds the WBA middleweight title, vacated the WBC light heavyweight title he won in 2019 and appears to be focused on unifying super middleweight titles in the future now that is promotional and network. free agent.
“I want to unify. I want all the belts and it doesn’t matter who is there,” Alvarez said.
When asked if he still wanted a trilogy fight with rival Gennadiy Golovkin, one night after GGG defended his IBF 160-pound title with ease, Alvarez could only roll his eyes and smile.
“I’m not running from anyone. I just showed that I fought the best,” Alvarez said. “If he’s going to take the fight, I’ll take it. But I showed the world that I fight the best.”
Smith (27-1, 19 KOs) was simply ineffective from start to finish. The 30-year-old England native did better than his older brother Liam, who was stopped by Alvarez in their 2016 title fight at 154 pounds, but not by much.
“I had faith and I never wanted to lose,” Smith said. “I came here to win, but this wasn’t my night. He was great tonight, so I played fair with him. He had a sore arm and may have made it past the weight division. I didn’t feel as dominant as I used to be, but No excuses. He was the best man tonight. ”
Although Smith was able to go all the way, he steadily withdrew and never showed willingness to risk it all for a chance to hurt Alvarez. A lot of it was the difference in speed between them. But Smith was also simply overwhelmed by Alvarez’s talent and IQ throughout.
“He’s smart and smart. He sets little traps and keeps you constantly thinking,” Smith said. “Before you know it, he’s there. I give him credit for being smart. His jab was good for a shorter guy. His defense was good. He’s very hard to nail, but it was exactly what I thought it would be.”
CBS Sports was with you the whole way on Saturday, then. be sure to follow the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Canelo Álvarez (c) def. Callum Smith by unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 117-113) to claim the WBA and WBC super middleweight titles
- Marc Castro defe. Luis Javier Valdés by technical knockout in the third round
- Frank Sánchez def. Julian Fernandez by TKO in the seventh round
- Raymond Ford defeat. Juan Antonio López by TKO in the seventh round
- Austin Williams defeat. Isiah Jones by TKO in the first round
Canelo vs. Smith, live coverage
| Canelo | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 120 |
| blacksmith | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 108 |
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