Fast Results from San Antonio: Callum Smith is No Match for Canelo

Two world title belts were at stake tonight when super middleweights Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Callum Smith locked horns at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. But the hardware was of little consequence as the fight would have been a compelling attraction without it.

It behooved Alvarez to look good after Gennadiy Golovkin — the rival with whom he will be forever linked – looked super-sharp in dismantling his opponent the previous night. As for Smith, the UK invader, an upset would likely earn him the Fighter of the Year laurel in many polls and would boost him into the high-rent district when it came to negotiating future purses.

The consensus of opinion was that Canelo would find a way inside Smith’s longer frame and gradually take the starch out of him with a succession of body punches. This wasn’t too far off the mark although Canelo was in control throughout.

Smith, who was 27-0 coming in, had stopped 19 opponents, 10 in the very first round. However, Canelo blunted his power by making him fight off the back foot. Smith never landed a hurtful punch and his jabs were not stiff enough to deter Canelo from moving forward.

Alvarez, who advanced his record to 54-1-2, was unable to put away the Englishman, but looked fresher at the finish. The judges had it 117-111 and 119-109 twice.

After the fight Canelo said that he would welcome a third fight with Golovkin.

Co-Feature

Heavyweight Frank Sanchez, purportedly 214-6 as an amateur in Cuba, took longer than expected to put away gutsy Julian Fernandez, but he ended the contest in fine style, knocking Rodriguez through the ropes in the seventh round with a big overhand right punctuated by a short left-right combo. Fernandez would have been in no condition to continue if he were allowed extra seconds to find his way back into the ring, and the bout was waived off. The official time was 1:35.

Sanchez, who had been training under Eddy Reynoso at Camp Canelo, improved to 17-0 with his 13^th stoppage. Tijuana’s Fernandez (14-3) is 0-3 outside Mexico with all three losses inside the distance.

Other Bouts

In a battle of southpaws, rising super featherweight Raymond Ford, a former national Golden Gloves champion from Camden, New Jersey, improved to 7-0 (4) with a seventh-round stoppage of Juan Antonio Lopez (15-8). Ford, 21, dropped Lopez with a right hook late in the opening round and ended the one-sided fight with another right hook, a punch that dropped Lopez to a knee and forced the stoppage.

Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, a southpaw, needed only 89 seconds to advance his record to 7-0 (6 KOs). Williams hurt Detroit’s Isiah Jones (9-4) with a straight left shortly after the opening minute, and immediately went for the kill, raining punches on his stunned opponent to force the stoppage. It was the fourth loss in the last five starts for Jones, but all came against undefeated opponents and he hadn’t previously been stopped.

Two of Canelo’s Guadalajara homies made their U.S. debut on the undercard. Welterweight Christian Gomez (19-2-1, 17 KOs) stopped Texas journeyman Angel Hernandez (17-16-2) in the third round. Featherweight Alexis Moreno (8-0-1) wasn’t as fortunate as he was held to a draw by Indiana’s Robert Greenwood (5-0-1).

Fresno super featherweight Marc Castro, a highly decorated U.S. amateur, won his pro debut with a third round knockout of Tijuana’s Luis Javier Valdes (7-6-1).

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