Crawford Dethrones Canelo

A new star has emerged and taken the throne as undefeated four-division superstar Terence “Bud” Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) of Omaha, Nebraska, defeats Mexican superstar, undisputed super middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Álvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico, by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A slow paced first round for Canelo to begin as he stalked while Crawford popped the jab and circled connecting with a left, later in the round Canelo followed up with an overhand that was blocked and then poked to the body.

The following round, Canelo came out shooting the right in the second and missed as Bud Crawford kept his distance boxing circling, Canelo connected with a body shot as Crawford kept boxing.

Keeping his distance and circling in round three, Crawford pumped the jab and then followed with a counter left tas Canelo attempted to get inside snapping his head in the process.

Crawford came out shooting in the fourth as he tagged Canelo with a snapping combination, despite the flurry the Mexican kept pressing shooting and landing a straight right. Canelo appeared to be pacing with Crawford later in and connected boldly to close the round.

Fight was competitive through five as Crawford was effective from a distance and Canelo landed the big punches.

At the halfway point in the sixth, Crawford continued to box landing effectively as Canelo pressed and began closing some distance and digged downstairs to the body. Canelo connected with a low blow as referee Thomas Taylor told Alvarez to keep em up.

Past the halfway point in the seventh round , Crawford remained effective using his hand speed and boxing away. Canelo kept pressing and shooting to the body and mixing in the overhand right.

Digging to the body in round eight, Crawford ripped Canelo with body shots as Canelo searched for openings, Bud kept circling the ring keeping his distance.

Bud came out shooting in the ninth digging to the body and taking to Canelo. Alvarez appeared to be frustrated as he couldn't find a rhythm, moments later Canelo got rough as he headbutted Crawford. Referee Thomas Taylor warned Canelo as Crawford kept boxing away.

Late in the fight in the tenth, Canelo was obviously frustrated as Crawford kept beating and outworking Alvarez to the punch moving his feet and boxing effectively. Canelo connected with a solid right but Crawford continued to box.

In the championship rounds, Canelo and Crawford traded in the center to start the eleventh as Crawford got the better of the exchange, boxing confidently, outworking and keeping Alvarez stalking and punching. Crawford connected with a flurry to begin the twelfth and final round as he beat Canelo to the punch but Alvarez kept letting his hands go chasing away in going the distance.

After going the distance the judges scored the bout 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113 as Crawford is now the new undisputed super middleweight champion and now a becomes boxing's first undisputed champion in three division.

Walsh Defeats Vargas Jr.

Junior middleweight Callum Walsh (15-0, 11 KOs) from Ireland faced Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-1, 15 KOs) based in Las Vegas in a battle of undefeated fighters in the co-main event to Canelo-Crawford at Allegiant Stadium and live worldwide on Netflix. Walsh showed off his superior experience and won a ten round unanimous decision by lopsided scores of 99-91 twice and 100-90.

Walsh, a southpaw like Vargas, showed off his boxing pedigree in the first few rounds as he controlled distance and worked behind his jab and sweeping right hooks. By round four, Vargas found a rhythm and stayed in the pocket and engaged with Walsh and had some success. He was also warned by two low blows from Referee Harvey Dock in round five.

In rounds 6-7, Vargas stuck the jab and was exchanging with the Irishman. By round 8-10, Walsh was back in control and displayed clean combos to the head and body. Vargas showed his championship heart, and valiantly went after Walsh to the final bell but could not connect with that one big shot to change the course of the fight

This fight had many storylines. Walsh is backed by UFC President Dana White and trained by legendary trainer Freddie Roach while Vargas Jr. is the son of former boxing superstar Fernando Vargas.

Mbilli & Martinez Draw

In a barnburner from the opening bell, exciting super middleweights Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) out of France went toe-to-toe with Lester Martinez (19-0-1, 16 KOs) out of Guatemala for the WBC Interim super middleweight title at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and live on Netflix worldwide. In the end, the fight was too close to call and ended in a draw as Mbilli kept his WBC interim super middleweight belt. The scores read 97-93 Martinez, 96-94 Mbilli, and 95-95.

Mblli, the more recognized name and highly ranked with the sanctioning bodies, came out like a bull and went right after Martinez, who although undefeated is less widely known. Mbilli tried to run through Martinez like he has with so many of his past opponents, but Martinez stood right in the fire with Mbilli and fired back punch for punch. Perhaps it was from the last couple of years training alongside pound for pound king Bud Crawford up in Omaha.

In the first two rounds, Mbilli showed off his fast hands and strength as he jumped on Martinez, but Martinez countered pushing Mbilli off him. Martinez gained confidence and in round three the momentum shifted as Martinez was moving Mbilli back as he seemed tired and the overall paced slowed down after the rapid start.

In round four and five, Martinez found a home with left and right uppercuts as Mbilli saw success to the head and body as both guys held their ground.

By round six and seven, Mbilli got a second wind, but it seemed Martinez was landing the bigger eye-popping shots. Through round 8-10, the fight picked up where it started as they started to exchange blow for blow to the roar of the crowd.

This was the type of fight Turki has been looking for – win, lose or draw – for fighters to come to fight and these two warriors did exactly that and did not disappoint and begs a rematch.

Mohammed Alakel Wins U.S Debut

Opening the Netflix card, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Mohammed Alakel (6-0, 1 KO’s) won a unanimous decision over Travis Crawford (7-5, 2 KO's) of Corpus Christy, Texas in a super lightweight bout.

Alakel boxed and utilized the jab from the opening bell sticking Crawford in the process. Crawford pressed and let his hands go as Alakel boxed in the process connecting with counters early in the fight.

The Arab fighter showed his skills as Alakel eat Crawford to the punch outworking the Texan. A left-right hand combination by Alakel in the seventh connected flush in the seventh as he began to slide away with the fight. Crawford pressed Alakel late in the fight in the ninth as he landed a series of solid punches. Despite getting hit the previous round  Alakel finished strong in route to the decision win.

The judges scored the bout 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92 as Alakel stays undefeated.