Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39) proved he still has plenty left in the tank with a wide 12-round unanimous decision victory over former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell ‘Iron Man’ Charlo 35-2-1 (19) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old Alvarez had Charlo of Houston, Texas on the canvas in the seventh round before cruising through to victory by scores of 119-108 and 118-109 twice.
The fight was the first of a three bout deal under Premier Boxing Promotions (PBC).
It was widely expected that Alvarez would defend his undisputed 168-pound crown against WBC middleweight champion Jermall ‘Hit Man’ Charlo 32-0 (22), who has not boxed for over two years while dealing with personal issues outside of the ring.
His twin brother Jermell accepted the assignment instead, stepping up two weight classes to challenge Alvarez in what ended up being something of a lacklustre effort.
The prevailing thought in many quarters was that if Jermell provided a decent showing against Alvarez, a future fight with Jermall could pique the interest of the boxing public.
That fight, according to Alvarez’s former promoter Eddie Hearn, is now dead in the water.
“I think because of deal with PBC, I think they were thinking Charlo, the brother, in the next fight,” Hearn said on the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel.
“I think that’s dead now. I think they were thinking the first fight was going to be a good fight and competitive and maybe a little bit controversial, and the brother steps in and it’s a great story. But who wants to see Alvarez against the brother now? No one.
“I think Canelo is a superstar. I felt the fight was underwhelming in terms of it’s buzz. You saw areas of the arena curtained off and stuff like that.
“On paper, it was a mega-fight. Obviously, they didn’t do it during the Mexican Independence Day weekend because the UFC fight was there. I’m biased. I think if I were promoting the fight, it would have been a mega-fight, but I’m the megaphone guy with a big mouth. They don’t have that. PBC is a fantastic organisation. Who’s the promoter? Who’s out there grinding with the media?”
Undefeated puncher David ‘El Bandera Roja’ Benavidez 27-0 (23) has long been angling for a fight against Alvarez, while talk of a bout against undisputed welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 40-0 (31) has cooled since the four-weight world champion trounced Charlo.
“I think Benavidez is a big fight and then there’s the Crawford talk,” said Hearn. “I can’t see it. I don’t see Canelo coming in under 168 pounds ever and I’m not sure Crawford comes to 168. Listen, he’s getting on, probably thinking, ‘I want to see these big pay cheques coming in’. So we’ll see.”
