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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (l) and Terence “Bud” Crawford (r).
In what may be boxing’s biggest fight since Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fought power-punching Genaddy Golovkin almost exactly three years ago, on September 18, 2022, Alvarez takes to the ring Saturday against undefeated Terence “Bud” Crawford in what promises to be the most dangerous fight of Alvarez’s career, at least since 2013.
Heavy.com will provide live round-by-round coverage of the Canelo vs. Crawford fight right here on this page, complete with our own unofficial scoring. So reload this page starting at 11 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Pacific for instant reaction to the massive fight.
In 2013, Alvarez battled another undefeated fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr., another technically masterful boxer who was able to neutralize Canelo’s power and land enough punches to take a split decision — with one judge controversially scoring the bout a draw.
That was the first loss of Alvarez’s career, and he has dropped only one decision since.
Crawford’s Two Disadvantages
Crawford combines Mayweather’s technical skill with substantial power that has led to 31 knockouts in his 41 wins, presenting Alvarez with a challenge that he has not faced at least since his 2013 defeat.
Crawford’s main disadvantages are size and age. Turning 38 later this month, Crawford is three years older Alvarez. And to take the fight, Crawford moved up two weight classes to fight for the first time at the super-middleweight 168-pound limit.
Both fighters weighed in at 167.5 on Friday.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) vs. Terence “Bud” Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs)
A live performance by Tool gets the crowd even more hyped than it already is as we wait for the ring walks. Crawford emerges caring a guitar case, for some reason. The crowd is apparently heavily Mexican as Crawford gets some boos.
As a Mexican mariachi-style band plays on, Alvarez makes the crowd wait for his entrance.
Now a full-scale, 10-piece mariachi band complete with sombreros heralds Canelo’s entrance. But he is still taking his time, milking the biggest moment of his career for all it’s worth.
A stonefaced, hooded Alvarez makes his entrance, knowing that in his 68th fight, his entire legacy is on the line. But the same could be said for Crawford in his 42nd fight, but he looks as relaxed if not more so than Alvarez.
Michael Buffer is making his introductions, and then we get underway.
Round 1
A very tentative opening, with no punches landing or even thrown for the first minute. Crawford feels his way with a few jabs. Crawford is moving while Alvarez stalks him. Canelo lands a right to the head and a body shot. Crawford is unaffected, however.
Alvarez is the aggressor, by a small margin, so…
Alvarez wins the round, 10-9.
Round 2
Crawford tags Alvarez on the side of the face, and continues to dance away. Crawford connecting with the better combinations in this round. His boxing technique is taking precedence. Alvarez is beginning to appear frustrated. He misses with a big right hook at the bell sounds.
Crawford wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 19, Crawford 19
Round 3
Crawford’s movement is beginning to elicit some desperation from Alvarez as he loads up for big punches but Crawford in too elusive. Judging on “ring generalship” Crawford is definitely in control.
A body shot by Alavrez failed to move Crawford who responds with a quick combination. Neither fighter has landed anything impactful, but a knockout does not seem to be in Crawford’s game plan, at least not yet.
Crawford wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 28, Crawford 29
Round 4
Alavrez landing better shots to the head in this round. Crawford is showing that he can take those punches but he’s letting Alvarez get into a rhythm. Some effective counterpunching from “Bud.” But Alvarez lands his best shot of the fight at the end of the round, producing a smile and head-shake from Crawford — something fighters often do when they are slightly hurt.
Alvarez wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 38, Crawford 38
Round 5
Crawford’s movement has quieted for the first half of the round but instead of footwork he lands counter-jabs. Alvarez slows his pace in the final minute, giving Crawford the advantage. The American fighter is still doing a good job of blocking the most dangerous punches from Canelo.
Crawford wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 47, Crawford 48
Round 6
Crawford lands a solid counter left on Alvarez but the Mexican figher moves forward. Alvarez’s face is looking increasingly battered. Crawford seems fresh, but Canelo appears to be breathing heavily.
Crawford keeps Alvarez on his heels with the jab. The more skilled boxer is taking control and that’s Crawford.
Crawford wins round 10-9
Alvarez 56, Crawford 58
Round 7
Crawford responds to his corners instructions to be more active. But he can’t connect with the fresher, more active Crawford. Canelo is starting to seem fatigued and somewhat puzzled by the dilemma Crawford presents. But even when Alvarez pins Crawford in a corner, the older fighter slips away.
Crawford wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 65, Crawford 68
Round 8
Alvarez looking like the oder fighter even though he is three years younger. He moves forward, but his aggression is largely ineffective. Crawford again shakes his head after a head shit that caught mostly glove. An attempted KO shot lands on Crawford’s head followed by a solid body shot. But Crawford despite taking those shots controls the tempo. By a narrow margin we’ll give this one to…
Crawford, who wins the round 10-9.
Alvarez 74, Crawford 78
Round 9
Best exchange of the fight to start the round. But a cut opens over Crawford’s right eye from an accidental head butt.
When action resumes, Canelo attempts to press the advantage as Crawford recovers from the head butt. By the minute mark, Crawford has recovered and lands some solid punches that get Alvarez’s attention.
Alvarez will need a knockout to win at this point, at least as Heavy.com sees it.
Crawford wins round 10-9
Alvarez 83, Crawford 88
Round 10
Crawford obviously knows he won’t be knocking out Alvarez, but his plan to win a lopsided decision is on track. Canelo’s corner implores him to go for the KO. But no matter what he throws for lands, he just can’t bother Crawford.
There’s no other way to put it — the undefeated Terence Crawford is giving Canelo Alvarez a boxing lesson.
Canelo moves forward but again his aggression doe snot produce results. Crawford has taken some good blows, but nothing has slowed him down.
Crawford wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 92, Crawford 98
Round 11
Crawford for the first time hurts Alvarez but the champion responds with clean punches. Crawford is in dangerous territory absorbing those shots, but he has nit slowed down. Crawford still getting the better of him this round. If you judge a fight on the criterion of “Who would you rather be?” it is obvious that you would rather be Crawford here. Alvarez looks worn down and battered. But he is still in the fight to his credit.
Crawford wins round 10-9.
Alvarez 101, Crawford 108
Round 12
Alavrez absolutely needs a knockout. If Crawford can avoid that fate, he wins this fight on and fair scorecard.
Alvarez appears out of gas but his heart is showing as he keeps on fighting.
It’s over!
Terence “Bud” Crawford wins this fight. Now let’s see what the official judges say.
Crawford win that round 10-9 on our scorecard.
Final Heavy.com score: Crawford 118, Alvarez 110.
Crawford wins! The judges saw the fight as somewhat closer than we did, with one judge scoring it 116-112 for Crawford. The others had Crawford winning 115-113.
Crawford Establishes His Greatness
Terence “Bud” Crawford, by defeating the fighter widely seen as one of the greatest ever, has firmly established his legacy as an all-time great by not only winning, but winning in masterful fashion.
Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of this historic fight. Boxing history was made tonight both in the ring and out of it, with an audience via Netflix that will likely turn out to be the largest to watch a live boxing event since the 1970s.
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In the co-main event:
Callum Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) vs. Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs)
In the co-main event, the son of two-time lightweight champion Fernando Vargas, the undefeated Fernando Vargas Jr. faces highly-regarded Irish prospect Callum Walsh in a junior middleweight, 10-round fight. For Walsh, the bout is his shot at making an impression on an American, and global, boxing audience.
Vargas Jr. sees the fight as his biggest chance to establish his own reputation, independent of his famous father.
Round 1
An unusual matchup of southpaw versus southpaw resulted in a mainly tentative, feeling-out round. But Walsh maintained an aggressive approach throughout and closed the space with Vrags toward the end of the round, though no big punches landed for either fighter.
Walsh 10, Vargas 9
Round 2
Walsh continues to be the more aggressive fighter, landing a good body shot combination around the one-minute mark. Vargas is fighting a solid defensive fight, but failing to land punches. Walsh finishes the round with another solid body shot.
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 20, Vargas 19
Round 3
Walsh starts the round with a good combination right out of his corner. The Irishman is outpunching his opponent by a margin of about four to one. Overall, however, another mostly uneventful round as Walsh’s momentum slowed later in the round as he seemed to be frustrated by the defensive style of Vargas.
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 30, Vargas 27
Round 4
Vargas lands his best punch of the fight, a solid left hook, and overall displays more aggression that in previous rounds. Callum keeps coming forward, however. As he looked to be retreating, Walsh surprised Vargas with a solid left hook. Walsh finished the round with a sharp, short left to the head of Vargas. The closest round of the fight but…
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 40, Vargas 36
Round 5
Vargas finally has Walsh moving backward, but is warned for a low blow. Walsh appears to be largely taking theroundl off, though he lands a good combination with about 40 seconds left the round. Near the end of the round, Vargas gets another caution for low blows. Vargas may have done enough to win the round, but Walsh landed the more solid punches. So…
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 50, Vargas 45
Round 6
Vargas dies his best work of the fight for the first minute or so, but Walsh closes the space, leaning in with his head. The Irish fighter has trouble landing the volume of punches as in earlier rounds. But Walsh finishes the round with a big left to the side of Vargas’ face. Not enough to savage the round, though.
Vargas wins round, 10-9.
Walsh 59, Vargas 55
Round 7
Vargas appears to be looking to end the fight with one shot, but seems to tire himself out. Walsh throws plenty off punches but nothing spectacular. He still works the body better than Vargas. In the final 10 seconds, Walsh regains the forward momentum. That’s why…
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 69, Vargas 64
Round 8
To this observer, the fight dies not seem nearly as evenly matched as the Netflix announcing team is making it sound. Vargas is not outclassed, but he simply cannot get as much work done as Walsh who has done enough body work to prevent Vargas from gaining any momentum. Walsh clearly dominate this round. In our view, Vargas needs a knockout at this point. But who knows how the ringside judges are seeing it.
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 79, Vargas 73
Round 9
Vargas even at this late stage is keeping his defense up, which frustrates Walsh. A good combo to the head by Walsh with 40 seconds left in the round. Walsh is clearly in control, but may need to do something spectacular in the final round to seal the deal with ringside Las Vegas judges. Vargas on the other hand, must score a knockout in the Heavy.com view.
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 89, Vargas 82
Round 10
While Walsh has clearly been the superior fighter throughout, this fight has not been the resounding introduction to an audience outside of Ireland that he hoped. Vargas throws some big punches in this round but nothing really lands. Walsh opens up briefly with 20 seconds left and the fighters end the fight with the most spirited exchange of the bout. In the end…
Walsh wins round 10-9.
Walsh 99, Vargas 91
In the official decision, two judges see it the same we that Heavy.com did. The three scorecards read 99-91, 99-91, and 100-90.
Callum Walsh wins to raise his record to 15-0.
Canelo vs. Crawford, the main event, is up next, at last. Stay tuned.
We’re moving our round-by-round coverage and instant reactions up the page, so scroll back up for the main event once it gets underway in a few minutes.