Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is a legend of the sport, so perhaps it is only fitting that the Mexican has only been defeated by three of boxing’s best in the 21st century.
A more experienced Floyd Mayweather inflicted the first loss upon a young Canelo in 2013, with Alvarez going on to avoid another defeat for the best part of a decade. Dmitry Bivol was the second man to beat Canelo in 2022, whilst fellow undisputed champion Terence Crawford became the latest to best the ‘face of boxing’ last weekend.
Canelo’s own comments after the fight suggested he thought Crawford was a better fighter than Mayweather, which poses the question – who got the most impressive win over Alvarez?
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Floyd Mayweather
The 2013 meeting between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo arguably served as a passing of the torch between two pay-per-view stars.
The 36-year-old Mayweather had already earned titles in five separate weight classes, whilst a baby-faced Canelo entered the ring with the first championship of his career, the WBC super welterweight crown, alongside the lesser-recognised WBA regular title and The Ring strap.
Despite the 13-year age gap between both fighters, they had very similar records. Canelo was sitting on 42 wins and 1 draw, whilst Mayweather had found victory in all 44 of his previous contests.
Although a unification bout for two titles at 154lbs, the fight was fought at a catchweight of 152lbs, set by Mayweather. A further rehydration clause limited Canelo from ballooning up too heavily; neither fighter could put on more than 13lbs overnight.
Mayweather dominated the contest, almost landing double the number of punches of Canelo – a final count of 232 to 117, according to CompuBox.
Despite Mayweather correctly being awarded the victory, there was controversy over the fact that it was only a majority decision. Somehow, one judge, CJ Ross, saw the contest as a 114-114 draw. She would promptly retire from officiating after the contest following severe backlash among the boxing community.
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The most dominant performance against Canelo, Mayweather’s feat is watered down by two aspects. Firstly, the catchweight heavily favoured the smaller man, and despite having a similar number of bouts under their belts, Mayweather simply had a different level of experience compared to Canelo.
Mayweather had fought in 21 world title bouts prior to meeting Canelo, who in turn had only seven prior experiences of boxing with the biggest prize on offer. A fighter-turned-businessman that knew how to calculate the risk behind picking bouts, Mayweather was heavily advantaged when he took on Canelo.
Dmitry Bivol
Mayweather took on a green Canelo yet to reach his prime, whilst Dmitry Bivol faced the Mexican near the peak of his powers.
That being said, it was just Canelo’s second fight at light heavyweight, a division almost 30lbs heavier than the 147lbs he fought at towards the start of the career. It should also be considered that Canelo attempted to move up to cruiserweight in order to win a belt in a fifth weight class, but those plans fell through.
He had defeated Sergey Kovalev by knockout three years prior to take the WBO light heavyweight strap, but the difference in quality between his two 175lb opponents was stark.
On a high after completely unifying the super middleweight division, Canelo entered the bout with Bivol as favourite. Ultimately the extra four inches in height allowed Bivol to keep Canelo at bay with the jab, maintaining distance between the two fighters.
Bivol was simply in cruise control for the majority of the contest, with Alvarez attempting to tire his opponent by targeting his arms. This did not pay off, with Bivol looking the more energetic of the two in the closing rounds.
All three judges saw it the same way, scoring the contest 115-113 for a unanimous Bivol decision win. Again Canelo had been heavily outlanded, with Bivol connecting with 152 punches compared to Alvarez’s 84 successful blows.
Terence Crawford
Whereas against Mayweather, Canelo was restricted in weight, and against Bivol, he was stepping above his division, the Mexican held the advantage in his bout with Terence Crawford, having competed at 168lbs for the majority of the last five years.
It was also the widest margin of victory out of the three, although only beating Bivol by one point and ignoring the controversy surrounding the equal scorecard from one judge in the Mayweather fight.
Many doubts surrounded Crawford heading into the contest, with questions asked about his relative inactivity, fighting just once a year since 2019, his advancing age of 37, and the 14lb jump he was making from his last fight.
His stint at 154lbs lasted just one fight, having moved on from welterweight after becoming undisputed in 2023. Now, the former 135lbs champion was competing at 168lbs.
Any concerns about Crawford being slowed down by ring-rust, age, or the extra weight were quickly diminished. He was certainly able to deal with Canelo’s proven power, whilst finding success of his own.
Early on Crawford targeted the head as his rival went for the body; if flooding the basement to tire Crawford down the stretch was Canelo’s plan, it did not transpire.
As the fight went on Crawford maintained a solid jab before finding combinations that troubled Canelo. Whilst Canelo is no stranger to benefiting from controversial scorecards, there was a feeling of certainty that Crawford would be named as the new undisputed super middleweight champion of the world.
The fact that all the marbles, and a place in the history books, was on offer, certainly ramped up the pressure, and as such, boosted the noteworthiness of Crawford’s win.
Considering that Crawford was entering the contest as the smaller man, nearing 38, and fighting for the first time in over 13 months, his performance becomes even more impressive.
As such, it is hard to look past ‘Bud’ when assessing the most impressive victory against Canelo.
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