That’s all for now. Here’s Steve Brenner’s full fight report.
Updated
Obviously, Álvarez is asked about Triple G and he is quick to respond. “I offered Golovkin double, triple the amount to make the fight happen and he still hasn’t answered,” Canelo says. Glad we’ve cleared that up.
Álvarez connected on 157 of 422 punches (37.2%). That includes a devastating 113 of 220 (51.4%) power punches and 44 of 202 (21.8%) jabs. When you land more than half of your power shots, you’re more than likely going to win.
Smith landed 115 of 403 (28.5%) total punches, including 68 of 208 (32.7%) power shots and 47 of 195 (24.1%) of jabs.
“I told you I was going to give you a great fight and bring you the championship and here it is,” says Álvarez through a translator during the post-fight interview. “I started controlling him but in the second round I hurt my hand. I hurt my right hand so I had to use my left more often. I could only use my left sparingly.
“I felt he was very strong in the beginnng. I felt I had to put the body work in so his strength would dwindle, so that’s what I did.”
Canelo Álvarez wins by ninth-round knockout!
A final left hook to the ribs drops Smith to the canvas and Luis Pabón correctly puts a stop to the proceedings at 2.28 of the ninth as the crowd of 51,240 roars. Álvarez is the new WBO light middleweight champion!
The KO body shot that ended the fight pic.twitter.com/NRYfq59KFj
— FightNights.com (@boxing) September 18, 2016
Updated
Round 8
Canelo opens with a counter right over the top of the jab that stings Smith. The dedicated body work is really beginning to take a toll on Smith, but now he comes back with a big rally on the ropes including a left hand that gets past Canelo’s slippery defense and lands flush. And down Smith goes, a second time on a devastating body shot with about 30 seconds left in the round. A bit of a delayed reaction there as he crumpled to the canvas a full beat after the punch landed. You wonder at this point how much longer Joe Gallagher will allow this to continue. The replay confirms how Álvarez dropped Smith: three sharp left uppercuts followed by a right hand that detonated on the Englishman’s liver.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 8-10 Álvarez (Smith 71-79 Álvarez)
Round 7
And down goes Smith! A right uppercut followed by a left hand then another right upstairs dumps the Liverpudlian to the canvas for the first time of his career. That cut above the right eye is really gushing. But Smith is still throwing! Looked as if he wasn’t going to make it out of the round but ends the round backing Álvarez into a corner and flailing away! A corageous performance.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 8-10 Álvarez (Smith 63-69 Álvarez)
Updated
Round 6
Canelo touching with a series of uppercuts and really working on that cut above Smith’s right eye. He’s really messed up. Smith is so brave, continuing to throw shots and beating Álvarez to the punch more often than he’s not. Álvarez either taking this round off or beginning to tire. Either way, Smith has done enough work to nick it.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 10-9 Álvarez (Smith 55-59 Álvarez)
Round 5
Smith backs Álvarez into a order and opens fire, but Canelo looks undeterred. Now Álvarez comes out throwing and Smith catches him with a flush left hand! Álvarez has slowed a bit – there’s no way he could have sustained that pace from the first round – but he’s still throwing. And Smith lands a massive right with Álvarez up against the ropes! Unfortunately, a second cut has opened above Smith’s left eye – and the late flurry doesn’t trump Álvarez’s superior work throughout the frame. Closest round yet, though.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 9-10 Álvarez (Smith 45-50 Álvarez)
Round 4
Canelo remains the busier fighter and he’s landing the harder shots. He appears to have opened a cut above Smith’s right eye. He continues to string together flowing combinations while moving in and out of the pocket with aplomb. Smith has found his offense but nothing he’s dialed up has managed to trouble the Mexican. Álvarez has landed 93 of 220 punches through four rounds, compared to 50 of 178 for Smith.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 9-10 Álvarez (Smith 36-40 Álvarez)
Round 3
Canelo putting together smart combinations but Smith, whose shell defense is far from impenetrable, is taking the punches well. Smith attempting to land uppercuts but hasn’t been able to find the target. Near the end of the round Canelo loads up on an uppercut of his own, but Smith slips it and counters beautifully. He’s very much in the fight and has done better in each successive round, but there’s just so much more on his punches and he’s throwing with greater frequency.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 9-10 Álvarez (Smith 27-30 Álvarez)
Round 2
A much better effort from Smith in the second. He’s been far more active and even marked up Canelo above his left eye. But Álvarez still did more than enough to take the round, landing the harder and more meaningful shots.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 9-10 Álvarez (Smith 18-20 Álvarez)
Round 1
Canelo lands a hard right. Then a jab. Then doubles and triples up the jab. A fast start from Álvarez here. A much faster start than we’re used to seeing from him. More jabs upstairs and shots to the body. Smith not doing much, just trying to find his footing here. A left-right combo from Canelo that lands on Smith’s guard but still manages to move him. Quite a show for Canelo so far. Smith is grinning through some of these punches but that’s not a good sign. The right hand to the body is really hurting Smith. A dominant opening frame for the Mexican. Canelo landed 30 of 62 punches, Smith landed six of 34.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Smith 9-10 Álvarez (Smith 9-10 Álvarez)
Updated
Canelo may be the clear-cut A-side to the promotion (which explains the top billing), but as the challenger he’s still announced first. Then it’s Beefy, the champion, who is taking a big step up in competition here.
Both fighters declined to step on HBO’s unofficial scales tonight after making 154lbs yesterday. It’s thought Canelo will enter the ring at close to 170. Here comes Liam Smith, who walks out to ... This Girl by Kungs vs Cookin’ on 3 Burners. Inspired choice. And now it’s Canelo, who makes Smith wait a few extra moments before emerging to México Lindo y Querido by Jorge Negrete, which has become his tradition walk-out song.
Monroe connected on 119 of 361 punches (33%), compared to 63 of 416 (15.1%). Here’s how CompuBox assessed the action:
Monroe’s crab-like mobility and ring generalship successfully induced the low-volume (34.7 per round for Rosado, 30.2 for Monroe), thinking-man’s fight that suited his style better. The lack of sustained action produced boos by the middle of round three, but Monroe’s accuracy (30%-15% overall, 32%-9% jabs, 34%-19% power) enabled him to reach double-digit overall connects in seven of the final eight rounds while limiting Rosado to two such rounds for the entire fight. An errant elbow opened a cut on the back of Rosado’s head in the ninth while an accidental butt cut the back of Rosado’s head in the 11th. An ugly but effective fight for Monroe.
Meanwhile, a trio of singers have taken the ring to perform the national anthems of the United Kingdom, Mexico and the United States in advance of the main event. Not much longer now.
Monroe Jr has won a unanimous decision over Rosado in a slog of a bout for something called the WBO intercontinental middleweight title. The ringside judges handed down scores of 116-112, 118-110 and 117-111. The pundits had said the winner of this fight would be next in line for Canelo, presuming he gets through Smith tonight, as soon as December. But it’s hard to imagine Álvarez will be eager to gift Monroe Jr with the opportunity after this one.
Gabriel Rosado and Willie Monroe Jr are into the 10th round in the last of three televised undercard bouts. The first saw Diego De La Hoya outpoint Luis Orlando Del Valle by scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 100-90 in a 10-round junior featherweight scrap, followed by Joseph Diaz Jr’s ninth-round TKO of Andrew Cancio. Presuming this one goes the distance, look for Álvarez and Smith to make their ringwalks in 20 minutes or so.
Hello and welcome to tonight’s WBO light middleweight title fight between Canelo Álvarez and Liam Smith. Yes, we all wish Álvarez was fighting Gennady Golovkin in perhaps the best fight that can be made today and it’s a brand-compromising travesty that it’s not happening after Álvarez called him out following his Cinco de Mayo beatdown of Amir Khan, but for the moment that’s neither here nor there. The matter at hand is Smith, the undefeated Liverpudlian who holds a belt at 154lbs that Canelo is targeting after vacating the lineal middleweight championship that he won from Miguel Cotto in November and defended once against Khan.
Smith is a 7/1 longshot but the odds feel even longer in the court of public opinion. Let’s see if the 28-year-old Merseysider can upset the apple cart.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Steve Brenner’s preview of tonight’s main event.
Everything adds up for Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez.
Fast horses, even faster cars, the adulation of a boxing-mad nation and the owner of rapier-like fists which have propelled the Mexican to the very top of the tree.
Englishman Liam Smith, the Liverpool-based fighter and the current WBO light middleweight champion, will experience first hand here on Saturday night if the strangely angelic-looking, flame-haired fighting machine is worthy of all the hyperbole.
“He came into the gym like any other kid, you start working with them and some are good and some are not,” said Álvarez’s trainer Chepo Reynoso.
“But the important thing is they learn and do what I teach. That is what happened with Saul. He was learning. It’s like math – two plus two equals four.
“You have to get to four to start with. He just kept getting better and better. What we are experiencing now is years and years of math.”
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