Canelo Alvarez retains undisputed championship with unanimous decision

LAS VEGAS — The question of whether Canelo Alvarez can any longer knock out anyone likely won’t go away with his unanimous victory Saturday night, but he remains the undisputed super middleweight champion because he was the stronger and more effective boxer.

Alvarez (61-2-2), who closed as a minus-380 favorite at BetMGM, overcame a somewhat slow start to dominate and hand Jaime Munguia (43-1) his first loss.

The champ took full control after knocking down Munguia in the fourth round before the announced crowd of 17,492, which was fairly evenly split between the two competitors.

Tim Cheatham scored the fight 117-110, David Sutherland had it 116-111 and Steve Weisfeld 115112.

“When I retire, my numbers will say what position I’m in,” Alvarez said. “I know there’s a lot of great Mexican fighters in the past, but I’m the best fighting right now.”

This is the second straight time that Alvarez left no doubt who was the better fighter and showing why, even at 33, he remains one of the sport’s alltime greats. Alvarez also had his way with Jermell Charlo in September to win by even wider margins.

These two fights followed two victories and a loss that were anything but impressive. While Alvarez showed he still is the class of his division, he still hasn’t delivered a knockout since defeating Caleb Plant in 2021 — a span of five matches.

Alvarez was circumspect regarding what he might do next, saying he’ll return to the ring “if the money is right.”

“I’ve fought everyone and I can do what I want,” he said.

The lead-up to the bout was unusually civil, with both fighters saying they were proud to represent Mexico on Cinco de Mayo weekend.