What was billed as the fight of the year, the great Mexican rivalry that was going to reinvigorate the sport, wound up being a complete dud. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wiped the canvas with adversary Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. after years of bickering, shutting him out over 12 uneventful rounds.
Their battle headlined a massive HBO Pay-Per-Event that sold out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but halfway through the bout, about half of the 25,000-plus in attendance were booing the contest. “Canelo” did whatever he wanted to Chavez early on and never looked back. He dazzled him with a cannon of a left jab, blasted him with overhand rights and crushed his guts with hooks and uppercuts on the inside.