Alvarez pummels Chavez in lopsided victory
LOS ANGELES — Saul “Canelo” Alvarez cruised to a unanimous decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. in a 12-round beatdown to claim Mexican bragging rights on Cinco de Mayo weekend in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Alvarez used Chavez for target practice, landing jabs, hooks and combinations at will as he won every round of the 164-pound (75 kg.) fight on all three judges’ scorecards.
Chavez, who has a four inch (10 cm.) height advantage, was booed during and after the fight by the standing room only crowd at the T-Mobile Arena.
Alvarez treated the lopsided bout as if it were a sparring session in the gym, even standing up between rounds for the entire fight.
He landed 228 punches to just 71 for Chavez and an incredible 31% of his jabs connected as he had his way with former champion Chavez, who has largely made his career off the name of his famous boxing champion father Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.
Alvarez, who is the World Boxing Organization light middleweight champion, improved to 49-1-1 with his only loss coming against Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
There was no title on the line Saturday as Alvarez moved up in weight to fight the much bigger Chavez at a catchweight of 164lbs.
Alvarez was the heavy favorite going into the fight and it didn’t take long to see why. Chavez had no answer for the punches from Alvarez which often came in combinations of three, four and sometimes even six.
Chavez, 31, was bleeding from the left nostril in the fifth round. By the final round, he was bleeding from both nostrils and his left eye was almost swollen shut. —