This past Saturday night from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Canelo Alvarez boxing performance against Austin Trout has been labeled brilliant to surprising to down right awful. In reality Canelo’s performance lies somewhere in the middle of the statements, at times he was all three.
In a fight where Canelo for the first time looked to be smaller fighter in the ring he also did something many did not expect; he was the counter puncher, following rather than leading. From the beginning onslaught he let Trout to be the aggressor, allowing Trout to pepper him with jabs in the opening round that at times during the opening stanza looked as if Canelo was having trouble getting past the longer reach of Trout.
However as the rounds went by Canelo seemed to be timing Trouts advances with surprisingly good defense and even better head movement. Canelo would make Trout miss in flurries and to make matters worse he seemed to know exactly which punch was coming from the New Mexico native. At the same time Canelo right hand was finding a home to Trout’s body and head.
The first half of the fight was a back and forth chess match with both fighters not really finding a rhythm or the ability to take control of the fight but that all changed in the opening minute of the 7th as Canelo landed a perfect right that dropped Trout. However instead of pouncing on his hurt foe, Canelo chose to pull back and allow Trout to compose himself.
The second half of the fight swayed in favor of Canelo but that was not without questionable tactics by Canelo. In a fight where he seemed to be the better boxer, he relied heavily on his right hand to end the fight with one punch, he also looked like he would take rounds off, the 8th, 11th and 12th all were rounds where Canelo seemed more interested in allowing his head movement do the work instead of his hands. This allowed Trout to tie him up on the ropes and catch him with glancing blows. While the shots may have not had much behind them, Canelo did not throw much back.
It can be argued that while his defense was close to being brilliant, his offense other than the 7th round knockdown was below average. His relentless body attack was non existent and he seemed to fall in love with the right hand more than he should have.
He didn’t make any new fans with his performance but with the close to 40,000 in attendance and almost all there for Alvarez, new fans are probably the least of his worries, he has an entire nation behind him.
This was the next step in the evolution of Alvarez, before last night Canelo was a fighter without a key name on his record that he fought in their prime but today he has a name to backup his record and more importantly a win that will quite down his critics, at least for a day.
Trout is impressive and if he hit harder he might have knocked out Canelo. Canelo couldn’t put his punches together and seemed to fade…his power was the difference not his skill. I thought Trout out boxed him and I had Trout winning by a round.
I had stated previously on this web site that no one should be surprised if this fight was very closely contested. I thought those who pictured an Alvarez blow-out were thinking with their hearts instead of their heads. I certainly have no problem at all with Canelo winning the decision, but as I’d also previously stated the outcome of a decision in this fight was already predetermined. As Paulie Malinaggi at ringside said ,judge Christodoulou appeared to “have filled-out his scorecard before the fight had even begun” .Two of the scorecards were ridiculous. (Boxing fans out there, here’s a tip on scoring a televised bout. When you watch the replay, shut-off the sound, and then score the fight. If you’re not being biased towards one fighter then you should come up with an honest score). trout threw 338 more punches and landed 20 more during the fight, and I had him winning very close by 2 points. Canelo Alvarez is a terrific young fighter, a future great “?” To all Alvarez fans I would say, do not bet your money that he can beat a Floyd Mayweather… (Note; Fans need to observe the example of fighters who show respect and class towards their defeated opponents. The crowds booing of the gracious Trout after his defeat was disgraceful)…
Teaaaaaam canelo, great fight respect to trout made canelo have a hard night. Trout is a humble guy hope he jumps right back in. Mayweather is next !
Well, I picked Canelo in seven, and he got the knockdown, but not the knockout. None-the-less, I think it helped Alvarez, experience-wise, to go the distance. And he showed off some defensive skills as well. Revealing the judges scorecards in the middle of the fight absolutely blows.
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