What seemed like an impossible matchup a few years ago delivered a surprising result for fans who wanted to cheer on a Mexican superstar during Mexican independence weekend in Las Vegas.
Terence “Bud” Crawford, of Omaha, Neb., defeated Mexican boxing star Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez by unanimous decision in front of an announced crowd of 70,482 Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
The Mexican put his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF world titles on the line in the super middleweight division (168 pounds).
Crawford won the fight with scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
Look back at our round-by-round recap:
ROUND 1:
Crawford held his own to start the first round. Canelo presses forward and looks to land blows to the body. Crawford responds with a good combination. It was a close, active round, during which the American looked good.
ROUND 2:
Canelo wields a left hand that promises a lot of potential. He punishes Crawford twice with shots to the body and Crawford responds with combinations. Crawford, who fights with both hands, is a very intelligent and talented opponent. The fight has yet to feature any lengthy exchanges. For now, it’s like a game of chess. Canelo seems to have fared better thanks to the punishment to the body, but it was another very close round.
ROUND 3:
Crawford is very careful, but he is effective on the counterattack for now, without causing any damage to Canelo. Both barely touch each other’s faces. Crawford is fast, but you can see that the weight is affecting his speed. However, Crawford manages the distance and is a master of the ring. Crawford has looked better in the first three rounds.
ROUND 4:
Crawford is gaining confidence and lands a counterpunch on Canelo. Crawford made Canelo miss early and scored with a tremendous left. Crawford is looking like a master against a Canelo, who continues to miss and looks slow. Canelo ends the round with a good right-handed shot to Crawford’s face. Crawford takes another round, the clearest one for him.
ROUND 5:
The crowd cheers on Canelo, who has lost almost every round from our point of view. Crawford continues to fight intelligently, moving around the ring with excellent defense, even though the crowd boos him. This round, however, does go to Canelo.
ROUND 6:
Crawford punishes Canelo with combinations. Crawford defends well against body shots. Canelo is frustrated by his opponent’s speed. The Mexican lands a good blow to the body. Crawford complains about a low blow. Canelo looks very predictable. Crawford takes another round.
ROUND 7:
Crawford has a huge speed advantage. He is landing more punches. Canelo is showing that he is not as dominant against an opponent who is very different and more cerebral than his recent foes.
ROUND 8:
The American puts up a fight worthy of this stage. The stadium roars in support of Canelo. The Mexican continues to rain blows down on Crawford’s gloves. Tonight, Canelo has come up against a fighter who is simply too complete.
ROUND 9:
Crawford trades jabs with Canelo and comes out on top. It is the best round of exchanges between the two. Canelo delivered an accidental headbutt to Crawford’s eyebrow. Canelo recovers after the accidental shot and seems to be the more effective fighter. The Mexican lands a right-handed shot. An excellent round in which both fighters land blows to their opponent’s faces. Crawford continues to look good as we enter the championship rounds.
ROUND 10:
At this point, Canelo needs a knockout to win. Canelo has been unable to penetrate Crawford’s defense consistently, while the American is effective with his combinations. This fight seems to be slipping away from the undisputed champion.
ROUND 11:
Canelo takes a hit and gets angry with himself. Crawford has taught Canelo a lesson tonight. Crawford is putting an end to the myth of Canelo as the dominant and undisputed champion.
Round 12:
Crawford starts with a good combination. The American’s difference in speed and technique is impressive. He has beaten Canelo with his clinching, counterpunching and adjustments. It has been a masterclass. In the end, Canelo looks very tired and staggers as he takes Crawford’s punishment. Crawford should win this fight comfortably.
Ring walks complete
Álvarez entered to the tune of “Mexico Lindo y Querido.”
Crawford entered to “La Canción del Mariachi” while holding a guitar.
Main card features two wins and a draw
WALSH DEFEATS VARGAS
In a fight that failed to live up to expectations, Ireland’s Callum Walsh (15-0, 11 KOs, from Cork) defeated Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-1, 15 KOs, from Las Vegas) by unanimous decision in the super welterweight co-main event. Vargas had finished 16 of his 17 fights before the final round concluded, but on Saturday night he looked like a very limited boxer offensively and defensively. Without taking too many risks, Walsh, who is set to be the first boxer signed by promoter TKO, won with scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 100-90.
MBILLI AND MARTINEZ DRAW
In one of the best fights of the night, WBC interim super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs, who resides in Quebec, Canada, and was born in Cameroon) drew with WBA No. 3 and WBC No. 7 Lester Martínez (19-0-1, 16 KOs, from San Benito Petén, Guatemala), in a super middleweight battle after 10 rounds. The judges handed in cards of 97-93 for Martínez, 96-94 for Mbilli and a third saw it 95-95 to declare a draw that the crowd received with applause.
The fight featured two very aggressive fighters with little defense. Mbilli attacked, putting a lot of pressure on his opponent throughout the 10 rounds. Martínez landed several blows without much force, especially with uppercuts and punches to the face throughout the fight. But the Guatemalan native had many lapses of inactivity that Mbilli took advantage of and he also lacked power. The two connected and received applause from the fans after the end of the fight.
ALAKEL DEFEATS CRAWFORD
In the fight that opened the main card, Mohammed Alakel (5-0, 1 KO, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) defeated Travis Crawford (7-5, 1 KO, from San Diego) by unanimous decision in a lightweight bout. The judges scored the fight 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92, all in favor of Alakel.
The Saudi Arabian boxer did not shine, but Crawford did not do enough to win any rounds. The fight was monotonous, and it is not surprising that Alakel has no knockouts in his career.
Prelim fight results
MIDDLEWEIGHT: Watts native Brandon Adams won his second victory over Serhii Bohachuck in a fight he dominated from start to finish. The judges scored it 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92 in his favor. The first time these fighters met was in March 2021. On that occasion, the Ukrainian dominated the fight, but in the eighth round, he was knocked down by Adams to secure a surprising victory.
HEAVYWEIGHT: Jermaine Franklin defeated Ivan Dychko, of Kazakhstan, by unanimous decision. The judges determined the fighter from Saginaw, Mich., dominated the bout, with scores of 97-92, 96-93, and 95-94.
SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT: Reito Tsutsumi quickly defeated Javier Martínez of Dallas, Texas, knocking him down with 56 seconds left on the clock in the first round. The Japanese fighter was too much for Martínez, who, after being knocked down, did not respond well to the referee’s instructions. After the count, the referee asked Martínez to walk toward him, but the boxer staggered and the fight was called.
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT: Sultan Almohamed, 17, debuted with a victory over Martín Caraballo, a Hollywood, Fla., resident who suffered his fifth career loss and third in a row.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Cuban Raiko Santana surprised everyone and quickly stopped Steve Nelson with 23 seconds left in the first round. The referee had to intervene to prevent further punishment and awarded Santana the victory by TKO. Nelson is a teammate and friend of Terence Crawford, who was part of the main event.
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT: Marco Verde won his third career victory by defeating Sona Akale via technical knockout in the fourth round. Verde sent his opponent to the canvas in the first round, but in the fourth round, the referee stopped the fight in a hasty and controversial manner. Akale and Verde were exchanging blows until the referee decided to intervene, annoying Akale.
