Just as expected, WBC Super Welterweight champion Saul “el Canelo” Alvarez (40-0, 29KO’s) took it to the aging former world champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-8, 39KO’s). From the beginning to the end of the fight, the undefeated Alvarez proved to be too strong in the ring. Although the game Mosley did make it the full twelve rounds, his punches never seemed to hurt the young Alvarez.
Canelo started off the early rounds with straight jabs and good body punches and he moved methodically in the ring toward Mosley. Mosley still had some quickness in his punches, but it seemed like he was just hitting a punching bag. Every time Mosley would land a punch that was usually blocked by Alvarez, Alvarez’ counter punches had much more power.
In the second round, Mosley began to force the action and Alvarez just calmly blocked the punches and waited for the openings. Alvarez then started connecting with hard body punches and landed a good left hook to the head of Mosley and he winced with pain. In the third round, Alvarez caught Mosley with a combination to the head and then followed up with some stiff jabs. He then landed a hard right to the head of Mosley and then Mosley moved forward and an accidental clashing of heads caused a small cut on the inside top part of Alvarez’s head and the blood began to flow. After the bell, Alvarez’ corner furiously began to work on the cut and they were able to stop the bleeding from his eye. According to HBO commentators, this was the first cut Alvarez has had in his career.
In the fourth, Mosley was rejuvenated and he attempted to put on the pressure as Alvarez blocked most of the punches and countered his way around the ring. At the end of the round, Mosley connected with a good right to the head of Alvarez. The fifth round was the best for Alvarez up to this point as he connected with power punches and strong left hooks and jabs. They both stood toe to toe in the middle of the ring, but Alvarez’ punches were the more effective. More of the same continued in the sixth round as Alvarez landed a huge big left and right to the head of Mosley. Alvarez was the busier as he continued to connect with heavy hands as Mosley’s face began to show signs of swelling.
Before the beginning of the seventh round, the score cards by HBO had Alvarez ahead 5-1. Alvarez then continued to land his jab and right hand on the pressing Mosley as he came in. At this point, Mosley appeared to be getting tired as the fight stats had Alvarez landing 30 of 50 punches on Mosley in this round. At the beginning of the eighth, Alvarez toyed with Mosley as he leaned against the ropes and blocked almost 20 consecutive punches. Then as they were both stood in the middle of the ring, Alvarez landed a huge body punch to the midsection and the force of the punch pushed Mosley back about four feet. As the blood began to flow out of the eye of Canelo, he landed a nice uppercut and the round ended.
In the ninth, Alvarez landed a multitude of body punches on Mosley as he pounded him around the ring. According to punch stats, he landed 38 punches to only eleven by Mosley. At this point in the fight, Mosley’s age was really beginning to show, but he continued to throw punches. As the tenth round began, you could see the pain on Mosley’s face as Alvarez continued his assault. The punches being thrown by Mosley didn’t seem to have any effect on the younger Alvarez. Suddenly, Alvarez landed a huge straight right hand that knocked Mosley’ head visibly back and the punishment continued.
Mosley continued to try to land whatever he could on Alvarez in the eleventh round, but they had no effect. Alvarez was still landing the much more crisp punches, and at the end of the round, Mosley’s corner was telling him “the kid is fighting till the end of each round.” Apparently they were noticing that Mosley was fading and that he should pick up the pace. Unfortunately for Mosley, Alvarez’ pace continued on, and it did just that till the end of the fight. It appears that the game Mosley may have fought his last fight. Alvarez wins by unanimous decision as the cards read 119-109 to Alvarez, while the other two had it 118-110. The young and exciting Alvarez has just taken a big step into the big leagues and is well on his way to being a superstar in boxing.
