Canelo Alvarez is set for a big undisputed super fight with Terrence Crawford after a unanimous decision win over William Scull.
The Mexican was less than impressive in his usual Cinco De Mayo weekend slot but he still beat the Cuban on the scorecards.
However, that’s all in the past as Canelo looks ahead to the huge Crawford fight for his undisputed super middleweight titles.
He said: “Everything happens for a reason and there’s a reason why I’m here.
“In September I’ll show the world what greatness looks like.”
Before their in-ring face off, the American had a simple message for why he would come out victorious in September.
Crawford said: “Because I’m the best, that’s why.
“That’s why everyone is going to come and watch on September 12th.”
The former undisputed welterweight champion has fought at junior middleweight but this is a massive step-up for the Omaha fighter.
There is no doubt this clash will be the talk of the boxing world in what could be legacy defining fight for both men.
Canelo beats Scull
The huge Crawford announcement came off the back of a gruelling (to watch) bout against Scull.
They were both content with following each other, as the 32-year-old challenger opted to run around the ring.
It does take two to make a bad fight and Saul Alvarez struggled to put a mark on his man keeping his fist relatively stationary for the fights duration.
This led to the unfortunate Compubox statistic of the fight having the lowest number (445) of combined punches for a 12 round fight in history.
All three judges had it in favour of Alvarez with scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109.
Canelo was all too aware of the quality displayed in the ring
“It was a boring fight,” he exclaimed.
“A fighter not trying to win and just trying to survive. I hate those kind of fighters.”
It was technically the 34-year-olds second time as undisputed champion as he was stripped of the IBF belt due to their rulings.
The event was part of a bumper weekend of action on paper but the action fell well below expectation.
Teofimo Lopez successfully defended his WBO welterweight title against Arnold Barboza Jr, likely setting up a Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis unification.
A win for Devin Haney over Jose Ramirez struggled to capture the imaginations of fans in attendance with 110 punches landed.
However, a shock win for Rolly Romero who dropped and outpointed Ryan Garcia to end his hopes of a Haney rematch.
Now it is the turn of Naoya Inoue to make a statement in his American debut against Ramon Cardenas.
TKO Boxing
Interestingly this undisputed clash will be the first venture into boxing for TKO.
Headed up by UFC President Dana White, with the help of Turki Alalshikh, the event will be a huge statement of intent for the fledgling promotion.
Although, no details have been announced regarding TV channels or how the league will actually work.
Some promoters have had their say on White’s venture into boxing.
Eddie Hearn believes it “will frustrate” Dana and he doesn’t see the promotion threatening the status quo.
Similarly, Frank Warren isn’t “concerned” by TKO insisting the company is nothing to “worry” about.
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