September 14, (THEWILL) — At a momentous night in Las Vegas, Terence Crawford claimed the most significant victory of his professional career, defeating Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez by unanimous decision to become the undisputed super middleweight champion at 168 pounds.
The 37-year-old fighter from Omaha upset the odds at Allegiant Stadium, making history by capturing his third undisputed title across different weight divisions.
Crawford entered the bout having fought almost exclusively at 147 pounds or below throughout his 41 previous professional contests.
The bout took place before a stadium record crowd of 70,482 fans, who initially chanted for Álvarez but gradually shifted their support to Crawford throughout the evening.
The judges scored the contest 116-112 and 115-113 twice in favour of Crawford, who showed exceptional footwork and hand speed despite moving up two weight classes.
Álvarez appeared visibly frustrated during the later rounds, dropping his hands and shaking his head on multiple occasions when unable to evade Crawford’s shots.
Crawford controlled much of the action from the fourth round onwards, using clever movement to outmanoeuvre the Mexican champion and landing clean shots with increasing frequency.
The turning point came in the ninth round when Crawford increased his output significantly, though momentum was briefly interrupted by an accidental headbutt that caused a small cut above his eye.
The American fighter maintained his composure through the championship rounds, understanding he needed to finish strongly to claim victory.
Following his victory, Crawford dropped to his knees with tears in his eyes before declaring himself “the face of boxing” during the Netflix broadcast.
The newly crowned champion had prepared a Rolex engraved with his new record of 42-0 before the fight, confident in his ability to extend his unbeaten streak.
Crawford stated that defeating Álvarez would place him on “the Mount Rushmore of boxing,” cementing his position amongst the sport’s greatest fighters across multiple weight divisions.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
