Canelo Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) proved to be too much for Callum Smith (27-1, 19 KOs), handing the Brit his first professional loss to win the WBC and WBA super-middleweight titles.
The height difference was noticeable as soon as both men met in the middle during the first round. Despite Smith’s massive height and reach advantage, Canelo did well in the first of stepping into range and landing some straights to the body.
Smith wasn’t landing much in the opening rounds, only throwing out his jab and not building any combinations off it. Canelo was pressing the action and forcing Smith on the backfoot against the ropes.
Canelo started the fourth round with some hard power punches that got the attention of Smith. “Mundo” continued to struggle to put together anything to trouble Canelo. The Mexican showed no respect for the power of Smith as he walked him down and landed some solid combinations in the fifth and sixth rounds.
It seemed that Canelo was beginning to search for the knockout as he kicked off the eighth round with a massive uppercut that just missed. As Canelo’s defense went out the window and his aggression increased, Smith landed one or two good combinations.
In the ninth and tenth round, Canelo really upped the pace landing some a hard right hand but Smith used the ropes to hold him up. The body shots were taking their toll on Smith in the final two rounds and Canelo continued to switch it up mixing in uppercuts with the punishment to the body.
Official result: Canelo Alvarez def. Callum Smith by unanimous decision (119,109, 119-109 117-111)
