I thought Jermell Charlo would at least make it competitive, but I was completely wrong. Well, at least he survived a rampaging Saul Alvarez who seemingly is still at the top of his game.
THE FIGHT. Alvarez’s game plan was apparent from the get-go: Start strong and let him feel your power.
It worked brilliantly.
Canelo took the fight to the younger man in the early rounds. He tried to walk Charlo down and when he was able to push him back towards the ropes, Canelo would unleash vicious body shots.
For his part, Charlo was quite active and fought back tooth and nail but for the most part, he looked overwhelmed.
The pattern continued in the middle rounds with Canelo landing solid body punches that were clearly taking its toll.
True enough, after a flurry of punches unleashed by Canelo, Charlo took a knee in the seventh.
Canelo tried his best to end matters, but to his credit Charlo (35-2, 19 KOs) showed toughness and grit as he hung in there, fighting in the trenches.
He even landed and scored with a couple of eye-catching shots in the championship rounds. Sadly though, these were not enough as Canelo punished and dominated him for the majority of the contest.
In the end, the judges all had Alvarez winning with scores of 119-109 and 118-109 (twice).
ALVAREZ. At 33 years of age, Canelo (60-2, 39 KOs) is near the end of his prime. But he is so good that even at this stage of his career, he is still on an entirely different level than most of the top tier fighters out there.
That he could dictate such a frenetic pace in a fight against a much younger champion entering his prime is simply incredible.
I think that loss to Dmitri Bivol in the light heavyweight division may have helped more than hurt him.
Now at this stage of his career, he knows what weight class is best for him, and is supremely confident of his capacity to handle what his opponents bring to the table.
VERBATIM “I’m proud of myself, I took a chance.” — Jermell Charlo (www.boxingscene.com)
LAST ROUND. It’s on Hembler Mendoza, who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!