The middleweight unification bout at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena did not fail to live up to expectations as Canelo and Jacobs put their IBF, WBC and WBA titles on the line in a bout that had been billed as a fight of the year contender.
With a partisan Mexican crowd behind him, Canelo made a quick start out of the blocks to give his supporters plenty to cheer for on Cinco de Mayo, gaining an early advantage against a struggling Jacobs.
But the 32-year-old American grew into the fight as it wore on, benefitting from a clever switch to southpaw to expose a weakness that has already been revealed against Canelo in the past.
With WBO middleweight champion Demetrious Andrade and rival Gennady Golovkin both watching at ringside, Canelo and Jacobs put on a show of big-power punching none more so than when Jacobs rocked Canelo with a fierce left to the head that shook the 51-1-2 boxer. But true to form, the champion got straight back to it and took the fight to Jacobs, with both unleashing everything they had in the closing stages.
As the judges prepared their final scorecards, Canelo celebrated in front of his fans and his actions were soon justified as the scorecards came back in at 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 to seal a deserving and fair victory. Re-live the live updates below.
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of tonight's middleweight superfight between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Danny Jacobs, where the IBF, WBA and WBC titles are on the line.
We've got plenty of build-up to bring you between now and the first bell of tonight's showcase unification bout, but first up we're kicking off with the undercard and it's a tasty bout with British interests as north Londoner John Ryder takes on Australian middleweight Bilal Akkawy, a late replacement for Canadian David Lemieux.
Well, talk about cagey. Akkawy had promised a lot in the week since taking this fight at short notice, talking up his surprising power and vowing to make Ryder feel it. But the first round is nothing to write home about, and Ryder just does enough to take it by matter of he actually threw a punch.
Round 2: That's a much better three minutes from Akkawy, who is happy to let Ryder take the middle of the ring until the closing stages. Ryder gets a small warning over a head clash and both boxers look to up their work-rate, with Ryder again landing the better punches. However, it looks like we'll get something akin to a fight over the remaining right rounds.
Round 3: The fight sparks into life as Akkawy goes on the attack, only to walk flush onto a beauty of a right hook that sends the Australian tumbling backwards. Ryder knows he has his man here, and he backs him into the corner with 90 seconds left before sending him down for a second time. It's another eight count, and Ryder goes in for the kill...IT'S OVER!
Perhaps the most entertaining past of that stoppage was the fact that the referee jumped between the pair to call it off - only to react to Ryder's final punch with a "ooo good shot" - before remembering he had to call the bout off.
Either way that's an impressive stoppage for Ryder, and puts him in pole position to challenge fellow Briton Callum Smith, the current WBA champion.
Next up we're moving through the undercard and it's a big fight for New Yorker Sadam Ali, who faces a local opponent in New Jersey's Anthony Young.
It's a fight that is very much being billed as a last-chance salloon for Ali is he is to get the big headline fight that looked to be coming his way when he defeated Miguel Cotto all those years ago, but risk a duff performance or a defeat and his time threatening to breakthrough to the top will be well and truly over.
If this is a sign of what's to come...you better stick the kettle on. We're more than 25 minutes down the line from Ryder knocking out Akkawy, and there's still no sign of our next bout getting underway anytime soon. It could be a long night...
Aha! We have movement, and it's the sight of Anthony Young making his way to the ring following a backstage delay. Saddam Ali follows him soon after, and it looks like we're ready for our second bout of the night in the welterweight division. Time for the introductions.
First round: This is pretty torrid stuff from Ali, but it's quite the contrary from Young who quickly goes on the offensive and lands some early shots that sends Ali sprawling backwards. Ali tries to fight back but misses the target by quite some way, and Young finishes with another nice combo to take the round.
Round 2: That's a much better round from Ali and an eye-catching flurry of punches late in the second could be enough to get him back on level terms on the scorecards.
Round 3: Young again goes on the offensive and manages to back Ali into the corner, allowing him to tee off with a series of big swinging punches. The referee gives Ali a warning to defend himself and show something, and when he doesn't, the fight is stopped!
There's a stunned hush around the filling-up T-Mobile Arena as Young celebrates a major upset with emphatic excitement. However, you have to ask where Ali goes from here, and off the back of that performance, you have to say it's nowhere fast.
You have to say, these lengthy stoppages between bout is killing any momentum of getting the night rollind. Another 20 minutes has come and gone since the Young finish, with no sig of our next bout.
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