If there was any doubt of who the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing is, Canelo Alvarez cleared it Saturday night.
Alvarez battered Callum Smith from start to finish to win by unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 117-111) to capture the WBA (Super), The Ring, and WBC super middleweight titles from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. DAZN News also scored the fight 119-109 for Alvarez.
"Smith is a great fighter, but as you see, I did a great job," Alvarez said through an interpreter in his post-fight interview. "I'm the best in the world. I showed what I am. I feel great at 168 (pounds). I don't want to fight with the scale. I want to unify. I want all the belts. It doesn't matter who is there."
From the opening round, Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) came out and let Smith know it wasn't going to be his night. He walked Smith down, pumped the jab, and started digging his patented left hook to the body. As the minutes ticked away, Alvarez kept getting better. He landed the harder, crisper shots. Alvarez rocked Smith on more than one occasion in the ninth round and looked to be moments away from putting him away.
To Smith's (27-1, 19 KOs) credit, he exemplified the heart of a champion. The Englishman continued to throw and try to force the issue. However, Alvarez showed excellent head movement and superb footwork that caused Smith to continue to miss wildly. Even when Smith did connect, the punches didn't faze Mexico's native. The 30-year-old walked through them and continued stalking Smith, hurting him with one vicious power shot after another en route to become the unified world super middleweight champion.
Now, what's next for boxing's biggest star? Alvarez says he wants all the belts at 168 pounds, so fights with IBF titlist Caleb Plant and WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders could be on the horizon.
But the one many boxing fans want to see is the trilogy bout with IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin, who beat Kamil Szeremeta by seventh-round TKO on Friday night. Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a highly controversial split draw in September 2017 in a fight most felt "GGG" won. They stepped back in the ring one year later, with Alvarez winning a close majority decision. When asked about the trilogy fight by DAZN's Chris Mannix, Alvarez smiled while the limited crowd cheered. The 30-year-old didn't say yes but didn't say no, either. He did make it clear, however, that he ducks nobody and wants to face the best opponents possible regardless of weight class.
"I don't run from nobody," Alvarez said. "I fight against the best. If (Golovkin) wants to fight, I'll take it. I fight against the best. I feel more mature. I feel better."
Here is what happened at Canelo vs. Smith.
Canelo vs. Smith results
- Canelo Alvarez def. Callum Smith via unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 117-111) to win the WBA (Super), The Ring, and WBC super middleweight titles
- Marc Castro def. Luis Javier Valdes by knockout at 1:59 of the third round
- Frank Sanchez def. Julian Fernandez via knockout at 1:35 of the seventh round
- Raymond Ford def. Juan Antonio Lopez by knockout at 1:14 of the seventh round
- Austin Williams def. Isaiah Jones via TKO at 1:29 of the first round
- Robert Greenwood and Alexis Eduardo Molina go to a majority draw (39-37 Greenwood, 38-38, 38-38)
- Christian Gomez Duran def. Angel Hernandez by knockout at 1:54 of the third round