Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defended his undisputed super-middleweight title by beating Jermell Charlo on points.
Canelo, 33, secured a unanimous 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109 win over the American to retain his WBO, WBC, WBA and IBF belts at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Mexican knocked Charlo down in the seventh round on the way to a 60th win in 64 fights.
“I’m the best. Who’s better? Nobody can beat this Canelo,” he said.
Charlo, 33, was undisputed light-middleweight champion until he was stripped of his WBO belt when the fight started.
“I worked all the fight to go in the body,” said Canelo, who dropped Charlo for only the second time in his career with an overhand right followed by an uppercut.
“Then I changed the punch and that’s what happened. We worked for that.
“We know he’s a great fighter. He knows how to move in the ring and we worked that in the gym for three months.
“Three months in the mountains without my family, without everything.
“But I still love boxing. Boxing made me the person I am today. Boxing is my life.”
This defeat was the second of Charlo’s 38-fight career, having stepped up in weight.
“I just feel like I wasn’t me in there,” he said. “It’s boxing. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
“I’m proud of myself. He didn’t knock me out. He hit me with some hard shots.”
Australian Tim Tszyu, who held the interim WBO light-middleweight title and was the mandatory challenger to Charlo, was elevated to champion status on Saturday once the bout began. —BBC
