Canelo vs Charlo: Mexican great drops and overwhelms American with dominant performance in Las Vegas

Father Time may be undefeated, but Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez turned back the clock on Sunday against Jermell Charlo. The Mexican champion overwhelmed the American – and sent him to the mat – in a truly dominating performance to receive a 12-round Unanimous Decision win in Las Vegas. Canelo won big on all three judges’ scorecards – 118-109, 118-109, and 119-108. Charlo, who climbed two divisions to get a life-changing opportunity with the sport’s money man, never really looked in it to win it. While both fighters got off to an extremely slow start in the opening round – Charlo, no doubt, worried about Canelo’s heavy hitting –  it was Canelo who sought to drive the action against his taller opponent throughout the fight. The Mexican champion caught the American with several thudding punches – including a right hand to the head in the 7th round that sent Charlo to the canvas.

.@Canelo DROPS Charlo in round 7 😱#CaneloCharlo pic.twitter.com/Uycn3U4fDU

— All the Smoke Boxing (@atsboxing) October 1, 2023

  Despite his pre-fight boasts of possessing that he knows how to beat Canelo and touting his ‘clutch gene’, Charlo looked to be in survival mode from the outset. Charlo looked to hit Canelo once and then either tie up or get out of range for most of the fight – at times to the chagrin of the crowd in attendance.

The final two rounds saw Charlo – seemingly determined to hear the final bell – essentially playing keep away.

The unofficial stats from Compubox tell the tale – Canelo threw 385 punches in all and landed 134 (just over a third) while Charlo threw 398 punches and landed a meagre 71. Canelo more than doubled Charlo when it came to power shots (78 to 31) – and also out-jabbed Charlo (56 to 14). Charlo could not even come close to recreating arguably his career-best performance against Brian Castano in May 2022 – though looking at history, only a handful of fighters have had spectacular back-to-back performances. “I just felt like I wasn’t me in there,” Charlo said after the fight perhaps alluding to his 16-month lay-off since the Castano bout. Canelo, who last fought in May, meanwhile, looked far sharper than Charlo. What next for the fighters? Charlo will likely drop two divisions down to his ‘natural’ weight of 154 where he has plenty of options – including a mouth-watering match-up with Tim Tszyu. While Canelo defiantly declared ‘nobody can beat this Canelo’ in the post-fight interview, at least a couple of fighters would disagree – Dmitry Bivol and David Benavidez. While Canelo has made the appropriate noises about getting his revenge on Bivol (who absolutely schooled him in their fight), the Mexican champion seems content to take his time in putting his signature on a rematch. While Bivol has said he would be happy to move down from light-heavyweight to super middleweight and relieve Canelo of his belts, the Mexican doesn’t seem too eager to take that route either. The hard-punching and undefeated Benavidez, meanwhile, is a difficult proposition and exactly the type of fighter that Canelo – like so many cash cows in the sport before him – will likely choose to avoid. In short? Canelo will do as he damn well pleases.