Canelo Alvarez loses to Crawford, surrenders his super middleweight titles

(AFP) - Mexican Saul Canelo Alvarez fell Saturday night by unanimous decision to American Terence Crawford in Las Vegas and handed him his four undisputed super middleweight championship belts.

To the disappointment of most of the 70,000 fans, the Mexican star conceded a surprising and resounding defeat, the third of his career, to a fighter who moved up two divisions to face him.

The undefeated Crawford, a former super lightweight and welterweight champion, became the first boxer in history to be undisputed champion in three different divisions.

After a very weak performance by the favored Canelo, the judges gave the win to Crawford with two cards of 115-113 and another of 116-112 in the ring of the Allegiant Stadium.

"By being here I've already won"

"One loss doesn't define me. Being here, I've already won," said the Mexican, trying to encourage his fans and showing his willingness for a rematch.

"Crawford is a great fighter and you have to give him credit. But I feel the same. I feel good sharing the ring with great fighters like him. If we do it again, it will be great," he said.

Canelo, 35, held the four super middleweight (168 pounds - 76.2 kg) belts since 2021 and had successfully defended them six times.

The Mexican, the great billing machine of boxing today, was left with a record of 63 wins (39 knockouts), two draws and three defeats.

His previous stumbles were in 2013 against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. and in 2022 against Russian Dmitry Bivol in a fight in which he moved up to middleweight.

"Canelo is a great champion"

Crawford, winner of all 42 of his career bouts, did not resent the double division jump he made for this fight from the 69.8-kilogram super welterweight, of which he is the current World Boxing Association (WBA) monarch.

The 37-year-old Omaha (Nebraska) fighter deployed a very smart strategy to outweigh his advantage in speed over Canelo's advantage in physical power.

"Thank the Lord... This is not a coincidence. He made this event just for me," Crawford stated before praising his opponent.

"Canelo is a great champion. He's a very strong competitor, I respect him a lot," he stressed.