Terence Crawford made history in Las Vegas on Saturday night, outpointing Canelo Álvarez by unanimous decision to become the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world. The judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in favour of the 37-year-old American, who improved to 42-0 with 31 knockouts.
Crawford, moving up two weight classes, became the first fighter of the four-belt era to unify titles in a third weight division. Already a world champion at lightweight and super lightweight, he now adds super middleweight, joining the likes of Henry Armstrong, Roberto Durán and Manny Pacquiao in the pantheon of fighters who successfully bridged weight classes.
In a high-level contest, Crawford boxed as a southpaw behind his jab, matching Álvarez's body shots before taking control from the sixth round. He landed sharp left hands and swelled the area under the Mexican's right eye, out-throwing and out-landing the defending champion. Álvarez, 35, grew frustrated, lunging with single shots while Crawford picked him off with combinations and smiled through an accidental clash of heads that left him needing stitches.
"Canelo is a great champion," Crawford said. "I've got nothing but respect for Canelo. I'm a big fan of Canelo and he fought like a champion today." The defeat was only the third of Álvarez's career, and his first since losing to Dmitry Bivol in 2022. He falls to 63-3-2.
The event drew a record crowd of 70,482 to Allegiant Stadium, the largest boxing audience in Las Vegas history, and was streamed on Netflix at no extra cost to subscribers. It also marked the debut of Dana White's Zuffa Boxing under TKO Holdings, with investment from Saudi sports figure Turki al-Sheikh, amid political discussions over a proposed Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act.
