Canelo Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) looked spectacular in defeating a game WBA Super World super middleweight champion Callum Smith (27-1, 19 KOs) by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision in a one-sided affair on Saturday night in front of 12,000 boxing fan at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Callum was disappointing with the way he fought, as he spent a lot of time on the ropes, covering up and not letting his hands go.
After the fight, it was reported that Smith had suffered a detached left bicep. It looked badly swollen as he walked back to his dressing room.
The scores were:
Smith, 30, took a lot of punishment in trying to win, but he had nothing left in the championship rounds. The big 6’4″ Smith went into survival mode.
Canelo made it clear moments after the fight that his focus is going after the other 168-pound champions. He wants to unify the division. As far as Gennadiy Golovkin, he’s not in Canelo’s immediate plans.
Marc Castro destroys Luis Javier Valdes
Super featherweight prospect Marc Castro (1-0, 1 KOs) slowly broke down Luis Javier Valdes (7-6-1, 2 KOs) by a third-round knockout.
Fighting in his pro debut, the 21-year-old Castro dropped Valdes hard in rounds two and three. Referee Mark Calo-oy counted Valdez out after he was dropped in the third. The time of the stoppage was at the 1:59 mark.
Frank Sanchez tops Julian Fernandez
Big 6’4″ Cuban heavyweight Frank “The Cuban Flash” Sanchez (17-0, 13 KOs) took care of business defeating Julian Fernandez (14-3, 11 KOs) in a seventh-round knockout.
Sanchez knocked Fernadez down in the seventh round. The referee then halted the bout. The time of the stoppage was at 1:35 of the seventh.
It’s time for the 28-year-old Sanchez to step it up a level, as he’s not getting anything fighting the low-level opposition he’s been steadily matched up against since he turned pro.
Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams destroys Isiah Jones
Unbeaten middleweight prospect Austin “Ammo” Williams (7-0, 6 KOs) displayed his huge power tonight in blasting out Isiah Jones (9-4, 3 KOs) in the first round.
The lanky southpaw Williams hurt Jones with a big left hook to the head. Williams then followed up with a storm of accurate power punches to the head, which resulted in the referee stepping in to stop the contest.
The time of the stoppage was at 1:29 of the first. The 24-year-old Williams is being groomed for big things, but he still has a long way to go. Williams has the power, but he needs to work on his boxing skills, especially his defense.
Canelo Alvarez will be in the limelight tonight in front of 12,000 fans against the talented, super middleweight champion Callum Smith on DAZN at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Here are the live-action results:
Other results on the card:
Christian Gomez TKO 3 Angel Hernandez
Alexis Molina Majority draw 4, Robert Greenwood
Preview
Former four-division world champion Canelo Alvarez is taking on the #1 super middleweight in the division tonight when he challenges Callum Smith for his WBA title.
This is the fight that boxing fans wanted Canelo to take when he moved up to 168 in 2018. It’s taken Canelo a little while to step up against the undefeated Smith (27-0, 19 KOs), and it’s going to be exciting to see how the Mexican star does.
When the two fighters stood side by side this week, the 5’8″ Canelo looked way too small to be an opponent for the 6’4″ Callum. Canelo will have to get in close tonight to land his shots; otherwise, he’s going to get picked apart.
Canelo believes he’ll have o problems getting inside on Callum so that he can land his big body shots. Callum’s last performance against the 5’9″ John Ryder showed that he has problems trying to keep his shorter opponents from getting in close against him.
Ryder took Smith by surprise, as he wasn’t prepared for him to work him over on the inside the way he did. For this training for the Canelo, Callum has been working hard to deal with fighters that crowd him.
