That’s all for tonight. Thanks as always for following along and be sure to check out our report from ringside.
The official scorecard
Here’s the official scorecard for tonight’s fight. Interestingly, Jacobs won the 12th round on both cards which he lost 115-113.
Here's the official scorecard for #CaneloJacobs. I had it 115-113 to Canelo. pic.twitter.com/k8zSZJ2mSL
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) May 5, 2019
Canelo Álvarez wins by a unanimous decision!
Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld scored it 115-113. Glenn Feldman scores it 116-112. All three scores to the winner by unanimous decision: Canelo Álvarez.
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Round 12
Three minutes. All on the line. Canelo comes out active landing a jab and a short left. Jacobs takes a spill in the center of the ring but referee Tony Weeks correctly rules it a slip. Canelo lands a combination downstairs but Jacobs answers. And answers! He’s landing a bunch of shots to the body including one that looked a bit low but was out of the referee’s line of view. Jacobs backing Canelo up. They’re both throwing, they’re both landing, they’re both exhuasted. Can someone find and extra reserve in the final 30 seconds? Canelo finishes strong, landing a few shots to the head and body. A very, very close round. I’m giving it to Canelo by the slimmest of margins ... and it’s enough for him to win the fight on my card. Now we’ll wait on the official scores.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 115-113 Jacobs)
Round 11
Álvarez lands a stright right on Jacobs’ nose. A rapid exchange of body shots in the center of the ring and it seems Jacobs got the best of it. A slow round with about a minute to go. Jacobs coming forward now and landing upstars. Canelo looking a bit tired for the first time. Now Jacobs unloads with shots to the body with Canelo trapped in the corner. He’s moving Canelo backwards. An easy round for Jacobs.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 9-10 Jacobs (Álvarez 105-104 Jacobs)
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Round 10
Jacobs traps Canelo against the ropes and lands a few shots to the body, but the Mexican is unbothered. Jacobs hits him flush with another heat-seeking right hook and it doesn’t seem to bother Canelo at all. Álvarez slips six more punches but Jacobs gets him up against the ropes once more and lands more sharp blows to the head in body. Another round for Jacobs, who’s breathing heavy but still in the fight with a few rounds under his belt.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 9-10 Jacobs (Álvarez 96-94 Jacobs)
Round 9
Álvarez bursts forward and caves in Jacobs’ ribcage with a left hook. Jacobs lands his biggest punch of the fight flush but Canelo walks right through it. Jacobs lands another big uppercut. Massive shorts from both fighters are landing. A solid Jacobs round, which Álvarez seemed to take off.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 9-10 Jacobs (Álvarez 87-84 Jacobs)
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Round 8
Álvarez continues to score with the jab. A one-two for Jacobs but Canelo hits back with an uppercut. And with a minute to go they’re standing toe to toe in the center of the ring trading blows. Firefights left and right but Álvarez is getting the better of the exchanges. The crowd is on their feet! A highly entertaining round with two-way action and Jacobs’ best of the fight, but Canelo did more.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 78-74 Jacobs)
Round 7
Álvarez lands a hard uppercut to the body and Jacobs reels back. He looks hurt. The crowd buzzes. Álvarez in pursuit. He charges forward and lands another uppercut on Jacobs, who is still fighting as a southpaw. Jacobs comes back with a hard left hook. Then Jacobs traps Álvarez along the ropes and lands a right hand to the body and short right. Maybe just enough for him to nick it.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 9-10 Jacobs (Álvarez 68-65 Jacobs)
Round 6
Jacobs lands a hard left hook on Álvarez, his best punch of the last few rounds. More of that please before the scores get away from him. Jacobs enjoying a spell of success after switching to a southpaw stance. Then not much over the next minute and the pro-Canelo crowd is whistling at the inaction. They’re unhappy. Álvarez traps Jacobs against the ropes and tries to open up to the body, but he can’t land cleanly. Álvarez lands a big right near the end that’s enough to take a closer round than the last few.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 59-55 Jacobs)
Round 5
Jacobs looks tentative as Álvarez continues to pressure him. Álvarez is throwing and landing more, almost exclusively jabs in this round, but they’re scoring blows: nothing too signifcant. Jacobs, who is missing a lot punches, is starting to look tired and confused in there. Jacobs just can’t get off.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 49-46 Jacobs)
Round 4
Álvarez continues to stalk as Jacobs uses that pawing left jab to keep him off. It’s becoming a familiar pattern. Jacobs snaps to life and opens up, but misses five punches in a row. Slippery upper body movement by Álvarez. A big left hook by Álvarez catches Jacobs’ leather. Álvarez looks good. He looks comfortable. Álvarez lands a left hook flush. Álvarez makes Jacobs miss. And miss tagain. Jacobs looks capable of making this a fight, but he needs to find Canelo in there.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 39-37 Jacobs)
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Round 3
Jacobs has done a nice job fighting off the back foot when required, but Canelo closes quickly and lands a hard right and an uppercut. Jacobs seems a bit gunshy here. He’s not throwing much. Now he opens up and throws a four-combination, landing to the head and body. But Álvarez shakes it off and keeps walking Jacobs down. Jacobs is making use of those size advantages but Álvarez seems to have no problems walking right in. Not an overwhelming round for Álvarez but the easiest to score so far.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 29-28 Jacobs)
Round 2
More stalking from Álvarez but Jacobs is doing a good job of keeping him off. Now the fighters ate starting to exhcange punches. Jacobs landing nicely to the head and body and escaping before Álvarez can respond. Álvarez lands a nice jab to the body but Jacobs responds with another combination, landing a clean uppercut. Álvarez having a hard time finding Jacobs, but he lands a clean body shot right at the bell that stirs the crowd. A very hard round to score. Close one to Álvarez.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Jacobs (Álvarez 19-19 Jacobs)
Round 1
Cautious, measured opening from both fighters as they circle one another in the middle of the ring. Jacobs looks a lot bigger than Canelo in there, even more than his three-and-a-half-inch edges in height and reach would suggest. Álvarez stalking a bit while Jacobs tries to keep him off with that rangy jab. Big chants for Ca-ne-lo! Ca-ne-lo! ring down from the upper deck. Jacobs sneaks a left hand through Canelo’s guard. Nice punch/ Álvarez tries to establish the body attack. He throws a few shots that send the crowd into roars but they didn’t do much. Not much of consequence in the feeling-out first but Jacobs did enough to take it.
The Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 9-10 Jacobs (Álvarez 9-10 Jacobs)
The fighters are getting their final instructions from referee Tony Weeks. They separate, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round commentary from here!
After a lengthy wait, the crowd stands for the national anthems of Mexico and the United States. Then the lights go down and Jacobs makes his ringwalk to Empire State of Mind. He’s wearing a black robe with red trim and looks all business, but allows a smile when he looks into the camera.
And now it’s Canelo, who emerges from the tunnel to the familiar strains of Vicente Fernández’s Mexico Lindo y Querido. Both fighters are in the ring and Michael Buffer is doing his thing. We should be under way shortly.
The MGM Grand’s Scott Ghertner tells us the closing odds for tonight’s fight are +600 for Jacobs and -450 for Canelo. The movement of the numbers, even in the two days since I’ve been in Vegas, suggest a lot of late action on Álvarez.
The arena is mostly full as we wait for the fighters to make their entrances. There are large pockets of empty seats in the high-rent districts, though. Turns out the lack of a major network pumping a fight non-stop makes a difference when it comes to buzz, which has been strangely lacking during the run-up despite the high quality of the matchup.
Gennady Golovkin, who is watching tonight’s fights from ringside, appears on the big screen for a brief interview and he’s showered with boos from the pro-Canelo crowd. Golovkin, who fights the unheralded Steve Rolls in a stay-busy fight on 8 June at Madison Square Garden, told the interviewer that he’s here because he wants a third meeting Álvarez next.
Well, that was quick. Vergil Ortiz Jr showed why he’s one of the welterweight divison’s most exciting prospects by blasting out Mauricio Herrera in three. Ortiz dropped his opponent at the end of the second round with a flurry of punches, then detonated a right hand square on the button early in round three that had Herrera, who had never been stopped in 32 pro fights, out on his feet. The stoppage of Herrera, Ortiz improves to 13-0 with 13 knockouts.
“I had the fight figured out in the first round,” Ortiz says.
Next up: Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez v Daniel Jacobs for the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight titles.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to T-Mobile Arena for tonight’s middleweight title unification fight between Canelo Álvarez and Daniel Jacobs. We’ve got a dandy of a matchup on hand between Álvarez, who holds the WBA and WBC title belts, and Jacobs, who captured the vacant IBF strap from Serhiy Derevianchenko in October.
Both fighters made the division limit of 160lbs at Friday’s spicy weigh-in, but there’s been no shortage of intrigue in the hours since. Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Álvarez, told ESPN that Jacobs came in 3.7lbs over the contracted rehydration limit of 170lbs scheduled for Saturday morning, a stipulation demanded by Canelo’s team during the negotiations. The reported penalty for the Saturday morning weight check was a reported $250,000 per pound, meaning Jacobs could be facing the loss of nearly a tenth of his $10m guaranteed purse. The infraction won’t affect the belts, all three of which are still on the table.
Jacobs has never been one to sacrifice performance for weight. It worked out for him well in the Gennady Golovkin fight, when he blew off the IBF’s mandated check in a decision that cost him his chance for that body’s title belt. The Brooklynite went on to lose a disputed split decision to Golovkin in a performance that managed to elevate his profile.
The final undercard fight, a scheduled 10-rounder between unbeaten welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr and durable veteran Mauricio Herrera, is about to start. After that, Canelo and Jacobs will make their entrances.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s his lookahead to tonight’s main event.
