The Sportspedia
The first fight of the Pound for Pound #1 fighter in the World, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez (MEX) and he made it clear: he is the best Pound for Pound boxer in the World. He demolished Callum Smith (ENG) for his World Boxing Association and the vacant World Boxing Council titles.
Callum Smith (ENG), one of the best with the jab and with an important reach advantage, went out to jab as expected. El Canelo, as it would have been expected, also came out to chase him, moving his waist. Álvarez connected some left hands and the better punches overall in a first round without many punches thrown. Canelo was better using the ring and Smith came out with a lot of respect.
The second and third were in a similar fashion, with Smith unable to take advantage of his reach and Canelo being the one that proposed the fight and landed the better punches. Smith’s few attempts at combinations did not land well and when the Mexican connected it looked as if Smith was concerned with not receiving more but without answering.
Th fourth was not very different, except Smith started to look hurt with some of Álvarez’ punches. He was still unable to effectively move when Álvarez would hit and at this point it was unclear what kind of roadmap Smith could have.
In the fifth Álvarez finally tried to land some punches and did land a few but overall Álvarez looked better with his waist movements and left hand. This was Smith’s best round thus far Smith was smart in the sixth and used his distance better, exuding more confidence with the punches he landed. Canelo’s face looked more hurt.
Callum did the fight that could have been expected from him in the seventh, using his jab and then landing right uppers and left hooks. He dominated the first half of the round but Canelo had better power punches in the second one, including two powerful uppercuts. The most active round, which ended with an exchange.
In the ninth Álvarez connected some combination on Smith that made the Englishman bend but not brake. Right upper-left-upper, and then the other way around. With under 30 to go, Smith tried to clinch since he was hurt but Canelo kept on landing.
The tenth was similar, with Canelo landing the left and upper combos. Smith was clearly hurt and threw some combinations to show that he was on the fight, but Canelo was totally dominating.
Canelo landed huge straights and made Smith look s if he was in a lower class, making people forget that he is considered the best in the World afterÁlvarez. The 12th was still a total obliteration and Álvarez was not able to win by Knock Out, but it was a total demolition.
