Floyd Mayweather still perfect after clinical beatdown of Canelo Alvarez
LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather was the 18-year veteran on Saturday but he looked more like the fresh 23-year-old, as boxing's top star cruised to a one-sided victory over Canelo Alvarez in the WBA-WBC super welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden.
Mayweather was far too fast, he punched far too accurately and he was far too difficult for Alvarez to hit.
In improving his record to 45-0, the judges gave Mayweather an easy-to-score majority decision. Judge C.J. Ross, who scored Manny Pacquiao's 2012 fight for Timothy Bradley, blew this one badly too, calling it a draw, 114-114.
But the other judges had it 117-111 and 116-112 for Mayweather, who was rarely hit. Yahoo Sports scored it 120-108 for Mayweather.
The top pound-for-pound fighter in the world was in magnificent form. His hands, which often trouble him in fights, held up well. He cracked Alvarez with every shot in the arsenal, landing hooks, jabs, uppercuts, crosses and anything else a man with a glove on his hands can throw.
[Related: Slideshow: Mayweather vs. Alvarez ]
The difference in speed and quickness between them was vast, and Alvarez never was able to figure a way to close the distance. Alvarez plodded forward and ate a series of hard jabs from Mayweather.
There were several times that Mayweather landed combinations and he appeared to have Alvarez, who lost for the first time after starting his career 42-0-1, in big trouble. But the only good thing Alvarez was able to do was to remain upright the entire night.
The Mexican star clearly wasn't experienced enough or smart enough to prove effective against Mayweather, who earned a record guarantee of $41.5 million in trouble.
Ross' scorecard was totally inexplicable. Mayweahter out-landed Alvarez 232-117, yet Ross somehow found a way to give Alvarez six rounds. It has to rank as one of the worst judging calls in the history of boxing, as Mayweather utterly outclassed Alvarez.
Other than benefiting from a judge's largesse, Alvarez did nothing. He said afterward that Mayweather was too elusive and that he couldn't catch him.
Virtually everyone saw that but Ross.
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Mayweather frustrated Alvarez with his speed and defense and was able to spin off the ropes the few times Alvarez cornered him.
In the co-main event, which many thought might upstage Mayweather-Alvarez, Danny Garcia overcame a slow start to retain his WBA-WBC super lightweight belts with a solid unanimous decision victory over power-punching Lucas Matthysse.
Judges had it 114-112 twice and 115-111 for Garcia. Yahoo Sports scored it for Garcia, 114-112.
"I'm the champion of the world," Garcia said. "I'm not scared of anybody. If you can make it out of Philadelphia, you can make it anywhere."
Matthysse came out strong and was attacking Garcia's body early in the fight. Garcia didn't seem to know what to do and didn't look as if he was in the fight.
But his father and trainer, Angel, an emotional character, slapped him in the face and shouted expletives at him, telling him to wake up.
That got Garcia going. He began to use his movement and was popping his jab, leaving Matthysse without answers. Garcia avoided the ropes and kept the fight in the center of the ring, where his boxing ability and faster hands were the difference.
Matthysse's right eye swelled badly in about the fifth round, and Garcia pounded it with hooks and jabs the rest of the way. In the 11th, Garcia knocked Matthysse down with a combination, finishing with a hard right to the head.
The win was a big one for Garcia as he could potentially be paired with Mayweather in his next fight.
