Australia's Tim Tszyu is officially a boxing world champion after Jermell Charlo entered the ring against Canelo Alvarez, meaning he was stripped of his WBO super welterweight title.
WBO ruled that Charlo would be allowed to be introduced as undisputed against Canelo Alvarez, then stripped for not fighting mandatory, before today's loss.
The fight between Charlo and Canelo was billed as a super fight and ended up in an undisputed decision win to the Mexican superstar, who thrashed his loud mouthed American opponent.
LIVE COVERAGE: All the latest updates from grand final day
READ MORE: Reynolds labelled 'best buy in Broncos history'
READ MORE: Gus reveals Walsh fear ahead of grand final
"Nobody can beat this Canelo," Alvarez said after he thoroughly dominated Charlo to retain his unified super middleweight championship.
"I wasn't disappointed not to get the knockout. I feel great. That's why we fight 12 rounds. If I don't get the knockout, I get 12 rounds to show I'm the best, that I'm the better fighter. That's why it's 12 rounds, to show who's better."
Alvarez (60-2-2) won by scores of 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109. The statistics were just as one-sided. Alvarez landed 42 punches to Charlo's 11, almost all power punches for both boxers.
https://twitter.com/MichaelBensonn/status/1708328537940459771https://twitter.com/loudibella/status/1708343880481968512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1708343880481968512%7Ctwgr%5E6a8547a2e163478310b2570acedeecb23e2c9ad3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-14114633733996893664.ampproject.net%2F2309151607000%2Fframe.html
Charlo, the unified junior middleweight champ, moved up two weight classes to take on Alvarez.
"I just felt like I wasn't me in there," Charlo said. "I don't make excuses for myself, so it is what it is. I take my punches and roll with it."
"I'll move back to 154 (pounds). This morning, I weighed like 172 or 173 pounds.
"I'll grandfather myself into this. I'm proud of myself. He didn't knock me out. He knocked all them other guys out. He hit me with some hard shots. I thought I got mine off."
His performance against Charlo figured to be a measuring stick on whether Alvarez could recreate some of his previous magic. There's no doubt now that he can, but the question is whether the Mexican-born fighter can sustain it.
Who he fights next is uncertain.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has declared David Benavidez will be his mandatory challenger for the super middleweight belt.
But Alvarez has not committed to facing Benavidez, a 26-year-old who is 27-0 with all but four wins by knockout. If Alvarez turns down Benavidez, the WBC likely would vacate his championship.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.