In front of a crowd of 70,482 fans, an undisputed super-middleweight world title match advertised when the battle of the decade took place between two future Hall of Famers, while the challenger Terence “Bud” Crawford made it easily looked by defending champion Saul “Canelo”.
Crawford executed his game plan to perfection, while controlling the remote, landing his offense, was never too much committed and definitely responsible. It was a frustrating evening for Canelo Alvarez because he had his moments, but he couldn’t force his will.
A few years ago, Terence Crawford said he would not fight against Canelo because of the weight difference, and Canelo said he would not fight against Crawford because if he were to win, he would not get the credit. Over time, Crawford attended some of Canelo’s fights and discovered a few things he felt like he could use.
After making the discovery, Terence Crawford began to get a fight with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Crawford, Canelo was not interested, but once Turki Alalshikh entered the equation and provided the financial incentive, the fight was fought.
In the opening round of the undisputed super-middleweight competition, Switch-Hitter Terence Crawford came out in the Southpaw attitude. Crawford dictated the rate of the first round when he used Feints and threw the stab.
Bud Crawford started the second round with sideways movement, Feints, and continued to land. Later in the same round, Crawford was able to plant his feet and contact some solid combinations.
Crawford opened the fourth round by landing a flurry of solid push, but later in fourth place, Canelo connected with the right hand on several occasions. Early in the sixth round, Crawford received Alvarez’s attention when he yielded a hard left hand.
For the second half of the sixth, and for the majority of the seventh round, Crawford continued to exploit Canelo. In the eighth round, Canelo pushed forward and could end up some solid shots on the body.
At the beginning of the 9th round, Crawford landed a spate of shots. About one minute in ninth place, a casual head button opened a cut over Crawford’s right eye. However, the cuts did not affect Crawford as he continued to take back and forth.
Alvarez linked to a solid upper hand in the 10th round, but Crawford answered by getting a wave of shots. Once round 11 began, Canelo landed a hard left to the body, but Crawford answered by standing in the bag and connecting with the upper head and the straight left hand.
The challenger Terence Crawford continued to exploit Canelo Alvarez throughout the 12th and final round. After the competition, Terence Crawford was declared the unanimous decision winner by the scores of 116-112, 115-113, 115-113.
With the win, Terence made “Bud” Crawford (42-0, 31 COs) history by becoming an undisputed world champion of three divisions. On the night of September 13 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Live at Netflix, Terence Crawford silenced the doubters and made his case because he was the best boxer of his era.
Last updated on 09/14/2025
