Once all the pageantry and celebrity fanfare cleared the ring on Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. wasted little time doing what he does best: win. The undefeated 36-year-old outclassed Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for 12 rounds at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, claiming a via majority decision that wasn’t nearly as close as the scorecard indicted.
Judges Craig Metcalfe and Dave Moretti scored the contest 117-111 and 116-112 respectively, while C.J. Ross — one of the judges’ involved in Manny Pacquiao’s controversial loss to Timothy Bradley — inexplicably scored it a 114-114 draw.
Mayweather, who entered the ring 15 pounds lighter than his opponent, consistently beat Alvarez to the punch, peppering the previously undefeated 23-year-old with shots from the outside, countering at will and displaying brilliant defense when locked against the ropes.
When the dust settled, Mayweather landed 232 of his 505 punches, while Alvarez connected on just 117 of 526.
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“17 years and I’m still going strong,” Mayweather said afterward.
“Canelo is a young strong champion. I take my hat off to him and to the country of Mexico. Mexico has produced some great champions throughout the years, and Canelo is a true champion at heart. A true champion like Canelo, he can take a loss and bounce back.”
With the win, Mayweather maintains his pristine 45-0 career record, while Alvarez moves to 42-1-1 in defeat.
“It’s simple. I couldn’t catch him,” a disappointed Alvarez said through a translator.
“[I] didn’t know how to get him, it’s simple as that. He’s very intelligent, he’s very elusive, and that’s what he demonstrated tonight.”
On the night’s undercard, Danny Garcia retained his WBC, WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles, defeating Lucas Matthysse with a gutty 12-round unanimous decision victory.
Despite heading into the fight as an underdog, Garcia never wavered in the face of his hard-punching opponent, badly damaging Matthysse’s right eye in the middle rounds before coming on strong and downing the Argentinian in the eleventh.
The final scorecards read 115-111, 114-112 and 114-112 in Garcia’s favor.
“I’m the champion of the world. The champion of the world is not scared of nobody,” Garcia said.
“I knew he was a strong fighter and he was going to come at me. The only way to slow him down was to go down to the body and throw combinations upstairs. When the fight got later in the rounds, I just threw combinations and he was just standing there. He wasn’t slipping or nothing, so I just let my hands go.”
Garcia’s record stays a perfect 27-0 in victory, while Matthysse falls to 34-3 with the loss.
“He’s a great champion. I knew I was in a great fight and I knew he wasn’t intimidated by the punching,” Matthysse said through a translator.
“I only had one eye for half the fight, but there’s no excuse. He did a great fight.”