Canelo Alvarez beats Callum Smith up for unanimous decision victory

Canelo Alvarez successfully returned to the ring on Dec. 19 by defeating Callum Smith by a clear and dominant unanimous decision. 

Canelo Alvarez returned to the ring for the first time in over a year to fight Callum Smith for the WBA and WBC super middleweight titles on Saturday, Dec. 19. Alvarez thoroughly controlled the fight from start to finish to win by unanimous decision.

Before the fight, Alvarez was favored by oddsmakers, but Smith came in undefeated and as the WBA super middleweight champion. Smith showed signs of weakness in his previous bout against John Ryder, and Alvarez exposed those weaknesses.

Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) last fought in November in 2019 when he knocked out Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO light heavyweight title, but he showed no signs of ring rust against Smith.

Smith took center ring to start the fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, in front of a limited audience. Alvarez started to move forward, but Smith tactically retreated while shooting in with occasional attacks to keep Alvarez honest. It looked like boxing’s version of a chess match.

Round by round, Alvarez grew stronger and more confident. His superior hand speed repeatedly beat Smith to the punch. Alvarez stayed in his defensive guard and constantly moved forward, firing his right hand the whole time.

Canelo Alvarez beat Callum Smith up as the fight went on, and it wasn’t much of a contest

Alvarez came on like an avalanche towards the second half of the fight. In round 9, Alvarez’s right hand made Smith’s nose bleed, and his power punches battered Smith’s face. Alvarez connected with a right hand at the halfway point that made Smith’s knees shake. He also hit Smith with a left hook to the body that almost put him down. Smith looked like a fighter trying to survive.

In the final round, Smith didn’t try to win the fight. When Alvarez got in close, Smith held to avoid further punishment. He made it to the final bell, but he was running on fumes.

The judges returned two scores of 119-100 and one of 117-111, all for Alvarez. With the win, Alvarez is now the WBA, WBC, and The Ring Magazine super middleweight champion.

Now the question is, what’s next for Alvarez? He talked about fighting IBF champion Caleb Plant before selecting Smith as his opponent. His nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin looked fantastic against Kamil Szeremeta. A trilogy bout could be next.

Whatever Alvarez decides to do, he’s clearly the best super middleweight in the world and arguably the best fighter in all of boxing. He’s 30 years old and looks like he’s in his prime.