CANELO ÁLVAREZ VS. TERENCE CRAWFORD | FULL FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS

CANELO ÁLVAREZ VS. TERENCE CRAWFORD | SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

 

CANELO ALVAREZ TROUNCES JERMELL CHARLO TO RETAIN UNDISPUTED TITLE

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LAS VEGAS -- Canelo Alvarez pushed and pushed for the knockout that eluded him in his three previous fights, but it never materialized on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

That was no fault of his own.

Alvarez floored Jermell Charlo in Round 7 with an overhand right, the second knockdown of the challenger's career, but there weren't many more opportunities for the KO in what ended up being a lopsided unanimous-decision victory for Alvarez, who made the third defense of his undisputed super middleweight championship.

Charlo wasn't willing to engage and rarely threw a punch. He moved away from Alvarez's power shots all night but never attempted to make him pay.

Two judges scored the fight 118-109 with the other tally 119-108.

"Nobody can compete with this Canelo," said Alvarez, ESPN's No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer. "Two months in the mountains [training near Lake Tahoe] without my family. I still love boxing. I love boxing so f---ing much. Boxing is my life. Boxing made me the person I am today."

Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) entered the ring the undisputed junior middleweight champion and had never competed above 154 pounds before. He was stripped of his WBO title once the fight started and said he would return to 154 pounds where he still holds three titles. Australian star Tim Tszyu will defend the WBO belt on Saturday against Brian Mendoza.