Terence Crawford Outpoints Canelo Alvarez; Callum Walsh Wins Too

Terence Crawford proved he could beat the bigger man in defeating Mexican great Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to win the undisputed super middleweight championship by unanimous decision on Saturday night.

He also proved he is the best fighter pound-for-pound today.

“I told you I was not here by coincidence,” said Crawford. “Canelo is a great champion, a great competitor.”

Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) fought southpaw against Mexico’s Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) and proved that despite moving up two weight divisions he matched strength with the redhead. That rarely happens to Alvarez.

The fight began with Alvarez targeting the body early with left hooks. He continued working the body throughout the match. It was the one target Alvarez seldom missed.

Crawford used mobility effectively by never allowing Alvarez to pinpoint with power shots, except to the body. He never ran, just moved side-to-side to keep Alvarez off-balance.

Though Alvarez connected many times during the fight, Crawford never seemed fazed by the power from the super middleweight champion. Crawford also connected a bit too and didn’t find success in hurting Alvarez.

Neither fighter has ever been knocked down and that will likely remain that way until they retire.

Crawford used his much longer reach to use the jabs and quick counters to score. Alvarez used counter body shots and lead right hands to score. But neither were able to change momentum of the fight with a single blow.

Instead, Crawford mounted enough scoring points to win enough rounds to win the fight by unanimous decision 116-112, 115-113 twice.

Alvarez accepted the decision with class.

“This doesn’t define me,” said Alvarez. “Total respect to Crawford. I take risks. I told him I was glad to share the ring with him.”

Though Crawford turns 38 in a couple of weeks, this is Crawford’s time to take the reins as boxing’s biggest star.

“Lot of people doubted me. I can’t sell. I don’t have no personality. It all came to a halt tonight,” said Crawford. “I just stuck to what was working.”

Walsh Wins

Ireland’s Callum Walsh (15-0, 11 KOs) out-worked Las Vegas fighter Fernando Vargas Jr (17-1, 15 KOs) Jr. to win by unanimous decision in their super welterweight battle between two young undefeated pugilists.

Despite being a heavy-favorite, Walsh was unable to overwhelm Vargas but did keep out-punching the slightly smaller son of the great Fernando Vargas Sr. Vargas surprised some with his fortitude.

Both fighters used the first round to test each other’s resolve. By the third round Walsh began to pressure Vargas who showed good defense in deflecting the powerful blows of the Irish fighter. Vargas also showed a decent chin.

If Walsh thought he would knock out Vargas, he discovered early that blows that previous foes could not survive were gobbled up easily by Vargas.

Vargas also showed an ability to attack and pressure Walsh but never could maintain the pressure. Both concentrated on the body early but several warnings by the referee changed Vargas’s work to the body. He refrained from too much work down there.

Walsh also showed a good chin in absorbing some overhand lefts.

Still, Vargas was in the fight but couldn’t muster enough combination punching to change the momentum. Walsh kept attacking though he was unable to hurt his foe. Every round seemed like the previous one — Walsh advancing forward and Vargas countering.

After 10 fairly close rounds, all three judges scored in favor of Walsh 99-91 twice 100-90.

Vargas did not complain.

Walsh retains his regional super welterweight title.

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