Although it was ruled a draw, there are many who believe Martinez should have been awarded the decision. Martinez landed 40.1 percent of his power punches and landed 227 of his total punches through ten rounds. He was then upgraded to full world championship status when Crawford vacated the title.
During a conference call, he stated it was the “biggest fight in the world” and beneficial for all parties involved. The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) stated that Álvarez was not enrolled in their testing program. At the hearing, Álvarez was given a six-month suspension, backdated to his first drug test fail on 17 February, meaning the ban would end on 17 August 2018. Although HBO didn’t make an official announcement, it is believed that the revenue would exceed $100 million. Mayweather vs. Álvarez sold 16,146 tickets to produce a live gate of $20,003,150.
On the night, Álvarez controlled the action over twelve rounds, inflicting Smith with a detached left biceps injury as he won by unanimous decision with scores of 119–109, 119–109, 117–111. On 17 November via social media, Álvarez announced he would be facing fury joshua odds undefeated WBA (Super) and The Ring super middleweight champion Callum Smith on 19 December 2020, with the vacant WBC title also at stake. For his 2019 campaign, Álvarez was named the fighter of the year by The Ring Magazine, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Álvarez’s purse for the fight as part of his DAZN deal was $35 million. MGM Grand were granted permission from ESPN+, the UFC broadcaster, to allow them to show the UFC main event in the arena, whilst the crowd waited.
- It was just the second time that Charlo had been knocked down in his career.
- Trainer Esau Dieguez said of the fight, “The truth is we would like to face the winner, but because of name recognition and what it would bring, we would like to fight Canelo.
- Mbilli, who fought Martinez to a split draw in one of the best action fights of 2025 nearly a year ago, will defend his WBC super middleweight crown against Alvarez on October 31 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- Who fights on Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli?
- WBO denies Bentley’s appeal, orders him to face Hernandez or vacate
Álvarez won via unanimous decision after the judges scored the fight 118–109 (twice) and 120–107 in his favor after 12 rounds. The bout would mark Álvarez’s first bout in his home nation in over eleven years. On fight night, Álvarez defeated Golovkin via unanimous decision with the scores of 115–113 (twice) and 116–112.
Due to this upset, López was instead penciled in to face Canelo at the MGM Grand on 15 September, for Álvarez’s WBC light middleweight title. Álvarez’s possible opponents for his September bout were James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Delvin Rodriguez and most notably, Victor Ortiz. Álvarez was originally set to fight top ten Ring light middleweight and former welterweight champion Paul Williams on 15 September 2012.
