What seemed like an impossible matchup a few years ago is now a reality: Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence “Bud” Crawford will face off in a fight that promises to break audience records.
The highly anticipated duel is tonight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where the Mexican will put his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF world titles on the line in the super middleweight division (168 pounds).
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Read more: Canelo vs. Crawford: An era-defining fight with legacies at stake
Álvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs), 35, comes off a comfortable victory over William Scull in May, during which Álvarez successfully defended his belts. Now he faces the challenge of an undefeated opponent considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters today.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will look to make history by moving up from welterweight to try to dethrone the Jalisco champion. With titles in four different divisions, the American is aiming to conquer a fifth crown in a new category for him.
How to watch:
The fight will be broadcast exclusively on Netflix, with no fee beyond the streaming service’s standard subscription fee. In the U.S., Netflix subscriptions start at $7.99, a massively reduced figure from typical boxing pay-per-view fees.
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The main event began at 6 p.m. PDT, with ring walks for Canelo vs. Crawford beginning at 9:35 p.m. PDT.
Main card features two wins and a draw
WALSH DEFEATS VARGAS
In a fight that failed to live up to expectations, Ireland’s Callum Walsh (15-0, 11 KOs, from Cork) defeated Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-1, 15 KOs, from Las Vegas, Nevada) by unanimous decision in the super welterweight co-main event. Vargas had finished 16 of his 17 fights before the final round concluded, but on Saturday night he looked like a very limited boxer offensively and defensively. Without taking too many risks, Walsh, who is set to be the first boxer signed by promoter TKO, won with scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 100-90.
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MBILLI AND MARTINEZ DRAW
In one of the best fights of the night so far, WBC interim super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs, who resides in Quebec, Canada, and was born in Cameroon) drew with WBA No. 3 and WBC No. 7 Lester Martínez (19-0-1, 16 KOs, from San Benito Petén, Guatemala), in a super middleweight battle after 10 rounds. The judges handed in cards of 97-93 for Martínez, 96-94 for Mbili and a third saw it 95-95 to declare a draw that the crowd received with applause.
The fight featured two very aggressive fighters with little defense. Mbilli attacked, putting a lot of pressure on his opponent throughout the 10 rounds. Martínez landed several blows without much force, especially with uppercuts and punches to the face throughout the fight. But the Guatemalan native had many lapses of inactivity that Mbili took advantage of and he also lacked power. The two connected and received applause from the fans after the end of the fight.
ALAKEL DEFEATS CRAWFORD
In the fight that opened the main card, Mohammed Alakel (5-0, 1 KO, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) defeated Travis Crawford (7-5, 1 KO, from San Diego) by unanimous decision in a lightweight bout. The judges scored the fight 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92, all in favor of Alakel.
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The Saudi Arabian boxer did not shine, but Crawford did not do enough to win any rounds. The fight was quite monotonous, and it is not surprising that Alakel has no knockouts in his career.
Prelim fight results
MIDDLEWEIGHT: Watts native Brandon Adams won his second victory over Serhii Bohachuck in a fight he dominated from start to finish. The judges scored it 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92 in his favor. The first time these fighters met was in March 2021. On that occasion, the Ukrainian dominated the fight, but in the eighth round, he was knocked down by Adams to secure a surprising victory.
HEAVYWEIGHT: Jermaine Franklin defeated Ivan Dychko, of Kazakhstan, by unanimous decision. The judges determined the fighter from Saginaw, Mich., dominated the bout, with scores of 97-92, 96-93, and 95-94.
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SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT: Reito Tsutsumi quickly defeated Javier Martínez of Dallas, Texas, knocking him down with 56 seconds left on the clock in the first round. The Japanese fighter was too much for Martínez, who, after being knocked down, did not respond well to the referee’s instructions. After the count, the referee asked Martínez to walk toward him, but the boxer staggered and the fight was called.
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT: Sultan Almohamed, 17, debuted with a victory over Martín Caraballo, a Hollywood, Fla., resident who suffered his fifth career loss and third in a row.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Cuban Raiko Santana surprised everyone and quickly stopped Steve Nelson with 23 seconds left in the first round. The referee had to intervene to prevent further punishment and awarded Santana the victory by TKO. Nelson is a teammate and friend of Terence Crawford, who is part of the main event.
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SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT: Marco Verde, from Mazatlán, won his third career victory by defeating Akale via technical knockout in the fourth round. Verde sent his opponent to the canvas in the first round, but in the fourth round, the referee stopped the fight in a hasty and controversial manner. Akele and Verde were exchanging blows until the referee decided to intervene, obviously annoying Akele.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
