Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez expertly dodging former opponent Miguel Cotto‘s wild swings before punching him in the face is still incredible.
The current pound-for-pound king challenged the Puerto Rican for the vacant WBC middleweight title on November 25 in Las Vegas.
Cotto, who at the time was 35 years old, was expected to be a tough test for the Mexican boxing darling, billed as a battle between the present and the future.
And while he had to overcome some tough moments, Alvarez secured a unanimous decision victory, with the judges scoring it 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111 to the victor.
The CompuBox punch stats later revealed Cotto landed 155 punches out of 484 thrown, with a striking accuracy of 32 per cent.
For Cotto, he threw 629, with 129 landing to end the fight with a 21 per cent accuracy.
At one point in the fight Alvarez showed off some incredible evasive manoeuvres to dodge Cotto’s wild swings twice without taking any damage.
Canelo then cracked Cotto right on the chin with a sickening uppercut moments later to make him pay for his mistakes.
Check out the video below…
slip-counter-exit. pic.twitter.com/NFYSlTqpUx
In the end, it was Alvarez’s superior boxing skills and fight IQ that finally earned him the victory over his rival.
Speaking to ESPN after the fight, Canelo spoke of his respect for the legendary Cotto.
“It’s an emotion I can’t put into words,” he said.
“I’m very happy, and much respect to Miguel Cotto. I will always respect him and he’s a great champion, but now it’s my era.
“I was fully prepared for what Cotto was going to do in the ring, whether that was take a defense stance or be the aggressor.
“It’s a great victory for me; not just for me, but for all of my country, for all my people, and
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