Terence Crawford became the undisputed super middleweight champion after victory over Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas.
Crawford, who moving up two weight classes towards this blockbuster the Netflix-broadcast event co-promoted by UFC CEO Dana White and chair of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, was the championship headliner at Allegiant Stadium. Crawford (42-0) was announced the winner over Canelo (63-3-2) with unanimous scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. Crawford now holds the super middleweight WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine titles.
From the start of the fight, it was clear that Crawford was going to be willing to go first and fire punches in bunches to keep Canelo honest. Utilizing his speed and movement on the outside, Crawford was able to implement a stellar gameplan that caused Canelo to follow him around the ring.
It wasn't all Crawford throughout the fight, however. Canelo certainly had his moments by landing big power shots. However, the difference maker was the volume and willingness to jab, which Crawford utilized brilliantly throughout the course of the fight.
Neither fighter was hurt at any point in the fight, and there were no knockdowns, but the heated exchanges that occurred kept the crowd on the edge of their seat, especially in Round 9. Crawford was fully comfortable with how the fight was unfolding, as he started to let a smile show on his face while exchanging with Canelo.
The official judges were unanimously in agreement that Crawford, 37, was the better fighter on the night, crowning a new undisputed champion at 168 pounds. He thanked all of his supporters and his haters in the build to the event.
He is now a three-weight undisputed champion - the first male boxer to accomplish the feat. Canelo, 35, who appeared to take the loss with a positive outlook, acknowledged it was a big risk to take this fight and said that he was fine with the result and.
