Terence Crawford produced a masterclass performance against Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion and make history in the process.
In front of 70,000 fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Crawford, who moved up two weight divisions, claimed a unanimous decision victory to claim the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA super-middleweight belts – with judges scoring the contest 116-112, 115-113, 115-113.
“I’m not here by coincidence,” said Crawford after the fight. “Canelo is a great champion. I have to take my hat off to him, he’s a strong competitor and I have nothing but respect for him. He fought like a champion.”
When asked if he would fight again, Crawford said: “I don’t know, I’ve got to sit down with my team and we’re going to talk about it.
“I just want to say thank you to all of the supporters, thank you to all the haters, I appreciate every one of you all. You made this a great event.”
Canelo was humble in defeat, saying: “I feel great. I want to thank everyone that came to support. I’m a winner for being here. The fact I’m here makes me a winner. I take risks and that’s what I did.
“I feel great to share the ring with great fighters like him. If we do it again then it’ll be great. I already accomplished a lot in boxing. My legacy is already there and I like taking risks because I love boxing.
“I feel strong. Crawford is a great fighter, a skilled fighter.”
The blockbuster fight in pictures
Canelo and Crawford traded punches in the first few rounds
Crawford started to assert his dominance in the later rounds
Crawford and Canelo embraced at the end of their historic fight
How Crawford made history
Crawford was the dominant fighter for the majority of the bout and successfully countered Canelo’s greater punching power with his renowned ring intelligence.
There was limited action to excite the enormous Las Vegas crowd in the first eight rounds but the 37-year-old Crawford was the quicker, more athletic and better boxer to that point.
The action picked up significantly in the ninth as Crawford went after Alvarez – who had registered a few body shots earlier in the contest but little more – with several combinations.
His momentum got stopped when Alvarez headbutted Crawford, causing a brief timeout 41 seconds into the round.
Crawford, nevertheless, was the superior fighter the rest of the way and that dominance was reflected in the judges’ scorecards on a momentous night for the sport.