Canelo Álvarez vs. Callum Smith was a professional boxing match contested on 19 December 2020, for the WBC, WBA and The Ring Super Middleweight championship.[1]
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| Date | 19 December 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super), The Ring and vacant WBC super middleweight titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Álvarez wins via 12-round unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 117-111) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
editSince defeating George Groves in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in September 2018, Callum Smith had made two successful defences and was seen as the best Super Middleweight in the division.[2]
Canelo Álvarez had fought in three different weight divisions in his previous three bouts, having defeated Rocky Fielding at super middleweight, before returning to middleweight to unify against Daniel Jacobs (giving him 3 out of the 4 belts) and most recently in November 2019 when he moved up to Light Heavyweight to successfully challenge Sergey Kovalev for his WBO belt.
On 17 November Álvarez confirmed he would be challenging Smith on 19 December 2020, with the vacant WBC title also at stake.[3][4] This came less than two weeks after Álvarez was released from his contract with Golden Boy Promotions after a lawsuit was settled for breach of contract.[5]
The fight was to be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.[6]
Álvarez's trainer Eddy Reynoso revealed that his fighter had been sparring with undefeated heavyweight Frank Sánchez in preparation for the bout.[7][8]
The fight
editOn the night, Álvarez controlled the action over twelve rounds, making himself difficult to hit, jabbed smartly and whenever he could hitting Smith with his trademark shots to the body.[9]
At the end 12 rounds Álvarez won by unanimous decision with scores of 119–109, 119–109, 117–111.[10][11]
Aftermath
editSpeaking afterwards Álvarez said "This is one of the best nights I have had".[12]
Smith suffered a detached left bicep during the bout.
Undercard
editConfirmed bouts:[13]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Frank Sánchez
|
 Julian Fernandez
|
Heavyweight (10 rounds) | 7th round TKO |
 Raymond Ford
|
Juan Antonio Lopez
|
Super featherweight (8 rounds) | 7th round KO |
| Austin Williams
|
Isiah Jones
|
Middleweight (6 rounds) | 1st round TKO |
| Preliminary bouts | |||
| Christian Gomez
|
Angel Hernandez
|
Light middleweight (8 rounds) | 3rd round TKO |
| Alexis Eduardo Molina
|
Robert Greenwood
|
Super featherweight (4 rounds) | Majority draw |
| Marc Castro
|
Luis Valdes Pena
|
Super featherweight (4 rounds) | 3rd round KO |
References
edit- ^ "Fight:2588134". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "Transnational Boxing Rankings Board: Ranking Archive (8 December 2020)". tbrb.org. TBRB. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez to fight Briton Callum Smith on 19 December". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ Iole, Kevin (18 November 2020). "Canelo Alvarez once again shows boxing world how it's done". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ Baby, Ben (6 November 2020). "Canelo Alvarez a free agent, released from Golden Boy contract". ESPN. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Venue Confirmed For Canelo Alvarez Vs. Callum Smith". Fight Sports. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Rivera, Miguel (17 December 2020). "Reynoso Confident Canelo Will Get Inside, Nullify Smith's Size Advantage". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
- ^ Luke Reddy (18 December 2020). "Callum Smith v Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez: An underdog champion fights a seasoned risk-taker". bbc.co.uk/. BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ Luke Reddy. "Callum Smith v Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez: Mexican dominates British fighter". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "Callum Smith suffers grotesque detached bicep from Canelo onslaught". World Boxing News. 2020-12-20. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ^ Muehlhausen, Steven (29 December 2020). "Canelo Alvarez puts a beating on Callum Smith to become unified super middleweight champion". DAZN News. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Luke Reddy (20 December 2020). "All the reaction to Alvarez's impressive points victory over Smith". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".