Canelo def. Chavez Jr. via shutout decision: 5 biggest takeaways

5. Canelo toyed with Chavez too much

Canelo Alvarez was certainly punch-perfect against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but his performance was somewhat tempered by Chavez’s complete inability to mount any significant offense. In a fight where Alvarez held every conceivable advantage, the young superstar was perhaps overly content to toy with his bitter rival in order to humiliate him.

Credit Canelo for displaying the breadth of his skillset, but one has to wonder if he should have stepped on the gas and done more to sustain the combinations that were rattling Chavez’s noggin with frightening ease.

CompuBox stats reflects Canelo’s dominance. Over 12 rounds, Alvarez connected on 42.6 percent of his power shots (145/340) and out-landed a befuddled Chavez 228-71 overall. Other than a handful of thudding left hooks to the body, Chavez had zero snap on his punches and only averaged 25 thrown per round. In what amounted to a glorified sparring session, Canelo could have gone for broke at any moment.

Look, Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin is a massive fight no matter what, so it’s not as if this performance hurts their fall showdown in any respect. However, having somewhat lost touch with his fanbase as he’s obviously ducked Golovkin for over a year, Canelo would have been wise to try and impose a mercy rule on his outgunned foe last night.