Terence Crawford takes place atop boxing world with win over Canelo Álvarez

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LAS VEGAS — Terence Crawford sealed the most sensational win of his storied career Saturday night, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight champion at 168 pounds.

In front of a stadium record 70,482 fans, the 37-year-old fighter nicknamed “Bud” upset the odds to make history and become a three-time undisputed champion, adding the super middleweight crown to those he won at light welterweight and welterweight.

Stepping up two weight divisions to take on a fighter who has been the face of boxing for so long seemed to many like a step too far, even for an undefeated boxer as talented as the man from Omaha, Neb. But in front of an enamored crowd who started the night cheering “Can-el-o” and finished it cheering Crawford’s name, he proved that he has the skills to succeed across weight divisions in a manner that marks him out as one of the greats.

The victory puts him firmly in the conversation of being the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. However, Naoya Inoue, who was scheduled to fight in Japan a few hours later Sunday, can also lay claim to that position. During the build-up to the fight, Crawford said that victory over Álvarez would put him on “the Mount Rushmore of boxing,” and it’s hard to dispute that when you look at what he has achieved.

Crawford went into the bout as the underdog (albeit an incredibly talented one who was yet to be beaten in 41 fights as a professional), largely based on his position as the historically lighter man. All but one of his 41 professional bouts took place at 147 pounds or below. Questions were asked about the impact the extra pounds would have on his speed. And whether he would be able to withstand the power Álvarez brings as a more natural super middleweight.

Throughout the 12 rounds, Crawford showed no sign that the weight had hurt his speed. His footwork and hand speed were a problem for Álvarez all night, leaving Álvarez visibly frustrated as the fight entered the later rounds. On more than one occasion, Álvarez reacted to Crawford’s shots by dropping his hands and shaking his head; seemingly enraged, either with himself for not being able to evade Crawford’s shots or with his opponent for being able to have such an effect on him.

“I just could not figure out the style,” Álvarez said, adding: “Sometimes you try and your body cannot go. That’s my frustration.”

The celebrity nature of this fight was clear throughout its buildup, as Álvarez showed flashes of his luxury lifestyle and hashtagged his social media posts #CANELOcrawford, signaling that he considered himself the main man. The king. The draw.

His ring entrance Saturday night affirmed that. It was Crawford who entered the ring first, played in by a band covering “Cancion del Mariachi.” He carried a guitar case in his right hand — paired with the song, it was a reference to the 1995 Antonio Banderas movie “Desperado” — and he wore a faint smirk on his face.


(Harry How / Getty Images for Netflix)

Álvarez followed, clad in a black and gold cloak, his face all business as he stepped into the ring, accompanied by two giant Mexican flags. It was his introduction to the crowd that left eardrums assaulted (after jeers that were only slightly less loud for Michael Buffer’s mention of thanks to Mohammed bin Salman, the ruler of Saudi Arabia).

As the fight got underway, the noise abated. Crawford took center of the ring, but it took half the round for any action inside it to take place. Álvarez landed the first meaningful shots, but there was little to choose between them. And it continued like that for much of the early rounds.

The defensive skills of both men seemed destined to leave shots glancing past temples or bouncing off gloves.

Crawford came out strongly in the fourth round and even allowed himself a smile after landing a solid right hook. It was in the sixth round that the fight seemed to get going; Crawford once again came out firing, taunting Álvarez by sticking out his tongue and using his clever footwork to dance around his opponent. At one point, it seemed Álvarez had him trapped in the corner, but in a blink, Crawford had twisted and turned the champion, reversing their roles.

Álvarez came out with bad intentions in the seventh and enjoyed a better round, but landing cleanly on Crawford was still proving a tough ask. It was in the ninth round that Crawford seemed to step on the gas. He came out firing and seemed to have Canelo in trouble until the pair got embroiled in a clinch on the ropes that ended with an accidental headbutt and a small cut above Crawford’s right eye.

The referee gave Crawford a moment to recover, but it seemed to kill the momentum he’d built at the start of the round, though Álvarez did not capitalize on the lull. It was in the 11th round that Álvarez’s frustrations came to the surface, resulting in him dropping his hands and wearing an expression that said, “What can I do here?”

“You have to win the championship rounds,” Crawford said. “I knew going into the championship rounds that I had to close out the show.”

The Allegiant Stadium crowd rose to its feet before the final round, aware that something special was brewing. The chants of “Can-el-o” were no longer audible, replaced by loud echoes of Crawford’s name. As the American enjoyed more moments of success, clearly understanding he was closing in on the greatest victory of his career, the smile returned to his face.

At the final bell, both men raised their hands, but it was Crawford whom the judges saw as their winner, one judge scoring it 116-112 and the other two 115-113. The new undisputed super middleweight champion fell to his knees and looked upward with tears in his eyes.

He’d made it onto Mount Rushmore. After a career of being avoided by the biggest names, struggling to be recognized in the way his achievements deserved, he knew this was his moment to take his place as one of the best.


(Ed Mulholland / TKO Worldwide LLC via Getty Images)

The event started in the early afternoon with six fights airing on YouTube featuring a crop of young fighters before the main event card moved to Netflix. But it was the more senior statesman, Brandon Adams, who took a star role, the 36-year-old scoring a second victory over Serhii Bohachuk in a middleweight bout that was fought almost entirely at close quarters. Adams stopped the Ukrainian in their first fight in 2021, but the 30-year-old had been on a winning streak since then and threatened to avenge that loss at Allegiant. But Adams won a unanimous decision to prove his first win was no fluke.

The main card featured three warmup fights, and it was during the second of those that the night started to ignite. An enthralling, non-stop super middleweight slugfest between Lester Martinez and Christian Mbilli was the kind of fight you could not take your eyes off for a single second. Both men spent much of it trading at close range, working at a pace that threatened to leave them spent well before the 10 rounds were over.

Somehow, they kept going, producing a fight of the night contender that the judges could not produce a clear winner from. A split decision draw means we will hopefully see Mbilli and Martinez meet again.

With the crowd warming up nicely, it was left to Callum Walsh and Fernando Vargas Jr. to finish the job in the co-main. The pair provided some feisty moments during fight week, but the super welterweight matchup failed to catch fire. Walsh looked nervous, and Vargas appeared unwilling to let his hands go for more than one or two shots at a time. If the intensity of Mbilli versus Martinez got the crowd into third gear, this one threatened to take them back down into first.

As they entered the second half of the fight, the pace picked up a little, with Walsh often looking the busier man, although it was questionable how much of an impact his work was having. Vargas rarely looked troubled by the Irishman — except perhaps for a moment in the final round when fatigue seemed to take hold — but also failed to match his opponent’s work rate. All three judges scored it for Walsh, and Vargas will surely be kicking himself for not upping his output on a night that put him on one of the biggest boxing stages he will likely ever have.

That stage ultimately belonged to Crawford, who had a Rolex engraved with his new record, 42-0, before the fight.

“I’m the face of boxing now,” he said on Netflix as the streamer closed the show. “And I’m the best pound-for-pound fighter like I’ve always been.”

(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images for Netflix)




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