A reaction that could sum up the fight between Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford and Canelo Alvarez was of Alvarez reacting in amazement after getting hit by a nasty shot.
The American brought out his A game in a bout that was expected to be a boxing master class given the involvement of two best pound-for-pound boxers.
Crawford defeated Alvarez unanimously to become the undisputed super middleweight champion in a thrilling contest at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday as the judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in the favour of the American.
Thenl pair delivered an entertaining battle that had the more than 70,000 people in attendance and millions on Netflix watching with bated breath throughout the 12-round showcase.
Crawford became the first male boxer to be crowned an undisputed champion in three different weight classes.
“I’m not here by coincidence. Canelo is a great champion, I have to take my hat off to him. He’s a great competitor and I have great respect for him. He fought like a champion,” said Crawford, who was in tears after his win was announced. Asked if he would fight again, he said: “I don’t know, I have to sit down with my team and we’ll talk about it.”I want to say thank you to all the supporters and the haters. I appreciate you all. Shout out to my fans and those supporting Canelo. We get to go home to our children.”
Crawford, a former undisputed champion at both light welterweight and welterweight, as well as a four-division world champion, stepped up two weight classes for the bout.
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Pacy and precise
Stepping up two weight classes didn’t seem to affect Crawford at all as he set the pace from the start with a measured display that showcased his incredible hand speed and precise footwork.
It was always going to be the pace and footwork of Crawford against the brute power of Alvarez.
Aware of Alvarez’s power, Crawford used his brain to display a balancing act of landing devastating combinations and keeping distance when needed.
The Mexican champion was good with the body work and connected many body shots early on but he was comprehensively outboxed by the end of the first half.
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He, then went searching for the knockout using his brute force but the knockout never came.
Crawford landed his flurry of punches and kept Alvarez from delivering anything powerful towards him.
However, for Alvarez, there was pride even in defeat.”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,” the 35-year-old said.”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.”
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