Canelo Alvarez, 33, has been a professional boxer since he was 15. He won world titles in four different weight classes. His world titles have included unified titles in three weight classes and lineal titles in two. Alvarez is the first and only boxer in history to become undisputed champion at super middleweight. He has held the WBA, WBC, and Ring magazine titles since 2020 and the IBF and WBO titles since 2021.
Alvarez's biggest strength is his ability to counterpunch and exploit openings in the opponent's guards. He is also known as an excellent body puncher. His boxing record is 59-2-2, with 39 knockouts.
Alvarez has had some great battles throughout his career. Let's look at Canelo's greatest matches.
Canelo Alvarez's best matches
Unanimous Decision victory vs. Austin Trout – April 20, 2013
Alvarez's first big match was against Trout in 2013, when they met to unify the WBA and WBC shares of the 154-pound division. Trout had beaten Canelo's brother, Rigoberto, to win the title, which was Canelo's main motivation. Alvarez threw 300 fewer punches than Trout in the matchup but landed close to the same number. He won ten, eight, and seven rounds on the scorecards, capping off an easy unanimous decision. The bout was Alvarez's audition to get top-billing for his next match, as he faced off with Floyd Mayweather Jr. five months later.
Unanimous Decision victory vs. Miguel Cotto – November 21, 2015
Miguel Cotto was a four-division champion when he won the middleweight belt against Sergio Martinez in 2014. Cotto had lost consecutive fights to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Austin Trout in 2012 but won three straight by stoppages coming into the Alvarez fight. Cotto's problem was that he was ten years older and smaller than Canelo Alvarez. His approach was to use movement and hand speed to outbox Alvarez, but Alvarez still landed more punches. Alvarez dominated the matchup, winning six of 36 possible rounds on the three scorecards.”I will always respect him, and he's a great champion,” Alvarez said. “But now it's my era.”
Knockout victory vs. Amir Khan – May 7, 2016
Canelo's first title defense after beating Cotto came a year later. He faced Khan who came up from welterweight to challenge for the middleweight title. Khan possessed an advantage in height and reach, but wasn't as powerful as Canelo. Khan was winning on the scorecards through five rounds, but it was rendered pointless in the sixth round. Canelo hit Khan with an overhand right that landed on Khan's chin, leaving him unconscious on the mat.
Majority Decision victory vs. Gennady Golovkin – September 15, 2018
Alvarez's coming out party as a professional boxer was the second match against Golovkin in 2018. The first matchup ended in a much-contested draw, but Alvarez won the rematch. Alvarez changed his strategy for this fight, bringing a more aggressive approach. The variety in Alvarez's strategy kept Golovkin off balance, and elite body work stopped Golovkin's offense. Two of the scorecards ended 115-113, with the other being dead even at 114-114. It was the first loss of Golovkin's career and the first time he didn't hold a title in eight years. Alvarez's run of five title belts in his next six fights was all made possible by this victory over Golovkin.
Knockout victory vs. Sergey Kovalev – November 2, 2019
After winning the middleweight title against Daniel Jacobs six months earlier, Canelo Alvarez added 15 pounds to go after Kovalev's WBO light heavyweight title. The Russian had won 13 of his last 16 matches, with ten coming by knockout. Many thought going up in weight class against the heavy hitter would be a tough matchup for Kovalev. He attempted to elude Alvarez's shots by concentrating on defense, but Alvarez worked the body and hit some heavy shots to Kovalev's head. The scorecards were tight going into the final two rounds, but Alvarez made the cards irrelevant as he hit Kovalev with a shot in the 11th round. The Russian hit the floor in a heap, and Alvarez won another title. Alvarez said, “It was delayed a little bit, but overall it was successful. We knew it was coming.”
Unanimous decision vs. Callum Smith – December 19, 2020
Alvarez became a legitimate four-division champion when he beat the British fighter in 2020. Smith came into the fight with a 27-0 record and 19 knockouts. Smith had defended his WBA and WBC super-middleweight title belt and stood seven inches taller with a seven-inch reach advantage. Alvarez made the size difference irrelevant as he applied pressure and punished Smith with body shots. In the ninth round, Alvarez landed 30 of 56 shots compared to 9 of 39 for Smith. The scorecards read 119-109, 119-109, 117-111 in favor of Alvarez, never leaving it in doubt.
Canelo Alvarez will now face Jermell Charlo in the first matchup between two four-title holders on September 30, 2023. A win will be one more accolade on a growing list as the Mexican slugger makes his way toward retirement.