Terence Crawford stuns Canelo Álvarez to become undisputed super middleweight champion | Boxing
Terence Crawford entered the story on Saturday evening in Las Vegas, going beyond Canelo Álvarez by a unanimous decision to become the world champion of the undisputed super-Moyen.
Before a record crowd of 70,482 at the alleging stadium – the most general boxing public in city history with a large majority to support Álvarez – Crawford, 37, increased two weight categories to put the Mexican superstar only the third defeat of his career. The judges marked him 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113, all for Crawford, who improved at 42-0 with 31 ko. (The Guardian had 118-110.)
Already the first man in the era with four-cered to unify the titles in two weight classes, the Nebraskan now adds a third, an unprecedented success in modern boxing. Having captured world titles in four divisions extending over 135 LB to 154, he now added a fifth to 168. This student of generational talents in the field of all time of lion’s weight jumpers like Harry Greb, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Durán and Manny Pacquiao.
The opening rounds were a high -level chess match overflowing with tension between two master operators. The striking crawford, boxing as a Southpaw, worked behind his blow, corresponding to the fire of the body of Álvarez before finding openings upstairs. In the middle of the laps, he no longer survived the pressure of the Mexican but dictating the pace. The feet of Álvarez seemed excited, his uncertain blow, and too often, he followed Crawford in a straight line, absorbing punishment without restoring a lot.
The sixth round marked a turning point. Crawford began to stand in the exchanges, landing the left hands and swelling the area under the right eye of Álvarez. From there, the American has become more daring, dealing with his opponent with a sliding lateral movement, planting his feet when he chose while launching and going beyond the reigning champion. The songs of “Ca-ne-Lo!” who sounded early were gradually encountered, and sometimes drowned, by “craw-ford!”
Álvarez had his moments, especially for the body, but he never found a second speed or an alternative attack plan. In the ninth round, he was visibly frustrated, rushing with simple blows while Crawford picked him up with combinations. An accidental confrontation of heads briefly stopped the action, leaving Crawford with a cup that required stitches, but he smiled through and returned by turning on his toes. In the championship rounds, he was in total order, pulling bursts of three strokes, smiling at the counters and even exchanging in the pocket without hesitation.
“Canelo is a big champion,” said Crawford afterwards. “I have to take off my hat. He is a strong competitor. As I said before, I only have respect for Canelo. I am a big fan of Canelo and he fought like a champion today.” Asked about his future, he was not engaged. “I don’t know. I have to sit with my team and talk about it. I would just like to say thank you to all the supporters, thank you to all the enemies. I all appreciate it. “
For Álvarez, 35, it was a night that gives to think. The champion with four divisions, rooted at 168 pounds for almost seven years, was sometimes made ordinary by the man of the smallest divisions whose timing and the economy have filled the gap. He fell to 63-3-2, his first defeat since he was overtaken by Dmitry Bivol in his own increase in light weight in 2022.
The extent of the event highlighted the extent of success. Allegiant Stadium, the $ 2 billion house in NFL raiders, had never organized combat before Saturday evening. The crowd has more than doubled the previous Las Vegas record of 29,214 established in 1982, when Larry Holmes beat Gerry Cooney to defend the title of heavy goods vehicles in a temporary stadium raised in the parking lot of Caesars Palace. Millions of others looked at Netflix, which broadcast the card at no additional cost to subscribers. For a long sporting sport on the à la carte payment model, it was a striking change: to exchange the wall paying money for the ladder, the scope and the spectacle.
It was also the beginnings of Dana White Zuffa by Zuffa under TKO Holdings, supported by a large investment in the Saudi sports mangate Turki al-Sheikh, arriving in the midst of political maneuvers in Washington on a new landscape of American-alleged Muhammad boxing landscape that could reshape the regulatory landscape of sport regulation. But the noise around business and politics was drowned by the clarity and the splendor of the main event.
Crawford, who joins Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather JR as the only fighters to win a linear championship in four different weight classes, built his reputation on problem solving. Really, he took a few turns to download the pace of an opponent before turning geometry in his favor. He did it to Yurierorkis Gamboa, to Shawn Porter, to Errol Spence Jr., but after years of refusal widely refused against the brand’s fighters and the dominant recognition that accompanies him, he did it again against the largest sports star, neutralizing the forces of álvarez, controlling the beach and gradually tightening the screw.
The dashboards reflected the proximity of the individual rounds but not the tenor of the action. By the last bell, Álvarez looked tired and resigned to the result, swinging with hope rather than conviction. Crawford was fresh, elusive and controlled by each exchange.
For Álvarez, the victory would have confirmed his supremacy at 168 pounds. Instead, Crawford transformed his heritage. Not in a casino ballroom or a half full basketball arena, but before the largest crowd of combat that the city has ever seen, has spread to millions of houses around the world.
The child of Omaha who survived a ball to the head is now one of the big ones of all time of boxing. During a weekend of the Mexican independence day, anything but built for Canelo Álvarez, it was Terence Crawford who stole the show and engraved its place in the fistric tradition.
