There were few moments Saul "Canelo" Alvarez made Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. uncomfortable during their September 14 megafight, but he did succeed at times in the lopsided affair.
Lopsided is putting it lightly. According to CompuBox, Money landed 46 percent of his punches to Canelo’s 22 percent. Even that disparity seems generous in what appeared to be complete and utter domination for the pound-for-pound king.
Following their weigh-in at 152 pounds the day prior to the fight, Canelo bulked back up to 165 pounds, and the champ dropped half of a pound. Despite what many had predicted prior to the bout, none of that ended up being a factor.
Following the fight, the Mexican champion was visibly disappointed in the results, but he knew what was coming when the decision went to the judges.
"I did not know how to hit him, it's as simple as that. The frustration was getting in there. The 15 pounds were basically negated tonight,” he said, per CBS Sports’ Lyle Fitzsimmons.
But there were times—few and far between—Canelo withstood Money’s dominance. Let's take a look at three of those moments.
Round 1
The first round was about settling in. The fighters sized each other up and fed off of the raucous crowd’s energy. Mayweather came out aggressively, but Alvarez handled it well—although he was significantly outlanded by Money.
He didn't have a tremendous showing in the round, but he did the right thing by being cautious in the face of Mayweather’s aggressiveness. Overall, Money dominated with his stinging jab, but Alvarez got a couple of good shots in, including his lone power punch of the round, which knocked Mayweather off balance.
The round goes to Mayweather, but the youngster made it known he was going to bring the fight to him for 12 rounds.
Round 4
Alvarez beat Mayweather in one statistical category in the blowout bout, but it was only for one round. In the fourth, Canelo won a thin majority of power punches landed, connecting on 53 percent of those shots to 38 percent by Money. Mayweather outlanded him with his jab 36 percent to 26 percent. All in all, the round shook out to be a draw, as both landed 37 percent of their total punches.
Alvarez made it interesting for a minute or so, mixing up body shots and shots to the head more effectively than in any other round. But his low blow and a late flurry from Mayweather ended up negating any type of momentum Alvarez had gained.
This was Alvarez’s best performance from a statistical standpoint, but Mayweather ultimately got the nod for it. All four judges, even CJ Ross, gave the fourth round to the eventual winner.
Round 8
The eighth round was the most lopsided round in Money’s favor. He landed a stunning 61 percent of his punches—his best of the fight—to just 21 percent by Canelo—his worst of the night.
But beneath the numbers, a different story unfolded in the round. Alvarez cornered a dodging and countering Mayweather against the ropes multiple times and even scared him once by landing a big left hook to his head.
The stats, though, tell the tale of much of the rest of the round. Money recovered to completely dominate the round and negate any strides Canelo had made on the scorecard.
It's worth noting that two of the three judges—Dave Moretti and Ross—scored this round in Alvarez’s favor despite the lopsided results.
All stats used in this article are courtesy of CompuBoxOnline.com.
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