Alvarez makes dominant return with victory over Smith

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez added the WBA and WBC supermiddleweight titles to his collection by unanimous decision after a dominant performance over Liverpool’s Callum Smith.

The Mexican, in his first bout since November 2019, started strong against Smith at the Alamodome in San Antonio,Texas,andpressedhome the advantage over 12 rounds with two judges scoring it 119109 in favour of Canelo and the other 117-111.

Alvarez is now a four-division world champion and boasts a 54-1-2 record, taking Smith’s WBA strap, and his undefeatedrecord,andthevacant WBC title.

The 30-year-old last tasted defeat against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013 and had since seen off Smith’s brother Liam in 2016 to take the WBO light middleweight title.

Speaking after the fight, he told DAZN: “My respects for Callum Smith, but as everyonelabelsmeI’mthebestinthe world and it’s for something.

“This is one of the best nights for me, I have conquered the unified titles. One of the greatest nights I’ve had and I will go for more.”

And, in a message for Gennady Golovkin, who he beat in 2018, he said: “My short-term goal is to unify all titles at 168 pounds. Whoever’s there, let’s go get them.” Alvarez and the Kazakh drew in 2017 and the Mexican scored a narrow win in Las Vegas a year on, and there is now speculation a trilogy may be on the cards.

Smith boasted a height and seven-and-a-half-inch reach advantage over Alvarez but the Mexican superstar was undauntedatbeingthesmaller man, having beaten taller and rangier fighters on a number of occasions in the past.

Smith said: “I’m devastated. Listen, I never wanted to lose, I came here to win. It wasn’t my night. I don’t feel as dominant at 168 as I used to be. It could have been a better version of metonight…heperformedand was the better man.”

*England batsman Ollie Pope has returned to the nets as he steps up his bid to return from injury in time for England’s tours of Sri Lanka and

India. The Surrey batsman had surgery after dislocating his shoulder in the third and final Test against Pakistan in August.

Pope – who suffered an identical injury while playing for Surrey – shared a clip of him receiving throw downs from England coach Paul Collingwood. Pope wrote on Twitter: “Nice to be back hitting this week! Few half volleys from @ Colly622 to start things off.”