On Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez cruised to a unanimous decision over Julio Chavez Jr. in what turned out to be a twelve round mismatch.
After the fight, Canelo announced that he was going to face Gennady Golovkin for the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight titles on September 16, with the venue being undetermined.
"Golovkin, you are next, my friend. Where are you? It's on," the Mexican said before bringing Golovkin into the T-Mobile Arena ring with him.
The 26-year-old Alvarez used Chavez for target practice, landing jabs, hooks and combinations at will as he won every round of the fight which took place 164.5-pounds on all three judges' scorecards.
He landed 228 punches to just 71 for Chavez and an incredible 31 per cent of his jabs connected as he had his way with former champion Chavez.
Chavez praised Canelo as being a "great fighter" but also said his Mexican fighter was not the best that he ever faced. Chavez gave that title former two division champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina. Chavez Jr. was dominated by Martinez for most of their twelve round fight in September 2012. That fight featured a near miracle twelfth round - where Chavez Jr. hurt, dropped and nearly stopped Martinez before a rabid crowd of Mexican fans that packed the Thomas & Mack Center.
"Canelo is a great fighter, he did his job tonight and the inactivity, it hurt me here tonight. “ always thought he was a good fighter. He just had better timing, a better fighter tonight. The activity helped him and [inactivity] hindered me," Chavez Jr. said.
“What he’s doing in the ring is smart. He does things right, he’s dedicated, he works. You saw tonight the best I tried. [Sergio] Martinez is better but I think he is the best Mexican fighter at this moment in time.”