Floyd Mayweather Jr. kept his unbeaten record intact with a surprisingly easy decision over Mexico’s Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez for the WBA-WBC superwelterweight title Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. If Canelo’s less-than-stellar performance was surprising, even more so was one of the judges’ scorecards: C. J. Ross (who saw Timothy Bradley beat Manny Pacquiao in their controversial 2012 fight) called it a 114-114 draw. The other judges scored it 117-111 and 116-112 for Mayweather. The Current scored it 118-111 for Mayweather.
From the start, Mayweather stood at the center of the ring and established the rhythm of the fight. An expert in making others look bad, Mayweather exposed Canelo—usually a solid fighter who knows how to cut the ring and throw precise combinations—as what he is: a promising 23 year old fighter who is just not in the same league with the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
After taking the initiative, scoring with the left jab and combinations to the head and body of Canelo for several rounds, Mayweather established a comfortable lead and proceeded to do what he does best: putting on a master class on defensive fighting and lethal counter-punching. Canelo looked tentative and was outscored and beaten to the punch by Mayweather. Even when the Mexican was able to score isolated combinations or single shots (especially with a right hand in the 10th round), Mayweather was never hurt and once again proved to have a solid chin. Late in the fight it seemed as if Mayweather could've scored a TKO but decided to have mercy on the Mexican.
The so-called “co-headliner” didn’t disappoint: light welterweight champ Danny García remained unbeaten with a smart, perfect fight against power puncher and favorite Lucas Matthysse, from Argentina, who basically fought with only one eye since the fifth round (his right eye was swollen shut, thanks to García's left jab). García took everything the Argentine had and outscored him throughout the fight, dropping him in the 11th round. Matthysse was gutsy but García showed a granite chin and was the better man. The judges had it 114-112, 114-112, and 115-111 for the winner. The Current saw it 116-112 for García.
In the first two fights of the undercard, Mexican welterweight Pablo César Cano earned a split but clear decision over England's Ashley Teophane in a good non-title fight, and in one of the worst fights in recent memory, Mexico’s Carlos Molina took the 154 lb IBF belt with a lackluster decision over equally unimpressive Ishe Smith.