CANELO ALVAREZ cemented himself as a fully-fledged four-division champion after dominating Britain’s brave and resilient Callum Smith.
The Mexican superstar walked away with the WBA super-middleweight crown, two years after winning their secondary ‘Regular’ title.
It proved 12 one-sided and fairly identical rounds in Texas as Canelo prevailed with too much power and precision for Smith.
After the win, he said: “I did a great job after 13 months out.
“Smith is a great fighter but I did a great job. I am so happy.
“I am the best in the world and from the first round I wanted to see what he brings but I showed what I am.
The opening round started as a cagey affair, with Canelo coming forward and Smith happy to back himself up.”
But it was not long till Alvarez asserted himself as the dominant force in the fight, landing with ramrod jabs and body shots to his taller opponent.
From rounds two to four, Canelo walked forward, rocking Smith’s head back, landing with big right hands as the Brit covered up on the ropes.
The champion fortunately had a tight defence, but looked too tentative as he allowed to pound-for-pound king, 30, to just outwork him.
Canelo too showed off his famed defence, slipping and rolling underneath Smith’s rare attacks, proving off his utter class.
Alvarez regularly found home with his right hand both down the middle and as a hook, set up behind his jab.
Smith struggled to find any sort of rhythm as he was forced to cover up and defend on the ropes.
Into the second half of the fight and it was all Canelo, who was coming forward at will.
But his right hands and body shots were finding the target more frequently with Smith’s defence beginning to get cut apart.
In round seven a massive uppercut up the middle broke through Smith’s guard – the best shot of the fight up until that point.
Smith came out firing in the eighth, but Canelo looked barley bothered as nonchalantly slipped and dipped out of trouble.
With Canelo having backed up his man to the ropes again, the two had a trade off but Alvarez’s speed and precision prevailed.
Smith looked momentarily hurt in round nine after a right hook bounced off his chin, with the ropes appearing to help him stay on balance.
Canelo sensed danger and poured on the pressure, battering Smith’s head and body as he bloodied up the Liverpudlian.
In rounds ten and 11, Alvarez came on strong swinging in heavy rights over the top.
Smith did let his hands go in a desperate attempt to fight off Canelo, but ended up taking a rear hand for his troubles.
Alvarez kept up the onslaught in the 12th and final round as he looked for the knockout to please his travelling fans Stateside.
But Smith continued to cover up successfully and managed to hear the final bell to close out his last round as an unbeaten fighter.
The 30-year-old hinted he could move up to light-heavyweight after a hard cut to super-middle – but promised to enjoy Christmas first.
Smith said: He was good tonight and I have no excuses, I feel I might have outgrown the weight.
“I don’t feel as dominant late-on but I made the weight OK. I have lost to a pound-for-pound star but we both turned up and he was the better man tonight.
“He is just so smart and clever, he closes the ground down wothout even punching and sets traps.
“His jab was really good for a shorter guy, I knew his defence was good but his jab surprised me a little bit.
“I want to go home and see my family and enjoy Christmas, I miss my daughter”
