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Canelo Alvarez didn’t get a knockout, but he spent the better part of 12 rounds showing Jermell Charlo that weight classes exist for a reason.
Charlo moved up two divisions for the chance to pull off a massive upset, but struggled to make Canelo respect him in the face of the undisputed super middleweight champion’s constant offensive onslaught. While Canelo still displayed a slick jab at times, he mostly loaded up and unleashed ferocious shots at Charlo’s head and body round after round.
Outside of a few exchanges, Canelo won virtually every moment that mattered as he dominated the fight from start to finish. The result reflected that as Canelo secured a trio of lopsided scorecards in his favor, 119-108, 118-109, and 118-109.
“I’m a strong fighter. I’m a strong man,” Canelo said afterward. “Nobody can beat this Canelo.
“I love boxing so f****** much. Boxing is my life. Boxing made me the person I am today. That’s why I love so much boxing.”
While he’s been a bit of a slow starter in the past, Canelo wasted no time cutting off the ring and stalking Charlo across the ring. With a power and strength advantage, Alvarez showed little respect for Charlo’s punches, launching huge power shots from every angle.
Canelo’s body punches constantly found a home. Charlo, on the other hand, was largely inactive and failed to really engage with much volume through the early rounds. Even when Charlo did try to establish his jab, Canelo just marched through him and flung bombs after bombs, just chipping away at his smaller opponent.
Despite Charlo’s strategy to dance on the outside with side-to-side motion, Canelo seemed to predict his every move when unleashing his own combinations. As he fell into a rhythm, Canelo punished Charlo to the body and then went back to the head with vicious hooks.
“We worked for that,” Canelo said of his strategy to hurt Charlo to the body. “We worked to the body, we know he’s a great fighter. We worked that in the gym for three months.”
As time ran out in the sixth round, Canelo bulled Charlo toward the ropes and rattled off a number of punches in succession. Charlo did his best to duck, dodge, and absorb as little damage as possible, but Canlo teed off with little fear of reprisal.
That led to the first knockdown moments later as Canelo put Charlo on the canvas in the seventh round with a vicious straight right hand. Charlo answered a standing eight count, but from that point on, Canelo seized full control of the fight.
While Charlo recovered well, he just wasn’t able to scare Canelo away with any of his punches and instead stayed planted on his back foot with his back against the ropes.
Altogether, it was a dominant showcase for Canelo.
“I think that’s why we fight 12 rounds,” Canelo said. “I don’t get that knockout, I get 12 rounds to show I’m the best. I’m the better fighter.”
With this victory under his belt, Canelo will have plenty of options awaiting him in the future. He said he’s already targeting the Cince de Mayo holiday in May 2024 for his return to the ring, and as far as an ideal opponent, Canelo responded bluntly.
“I don’t f****** care,” he said, welcoming all challenges as he looks to build on his latest performance.
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