Floyd Mayweather beats Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas masterclass

By Ben DirsBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section Boxingcomments289

Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather further strengthened his claim to greatness with a one-sided defeat of Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas.

In doing so the 36-year-old American secured the WBC and WBA light-middleweight titles and stretched his unbeaten professional run to 45 fights.

He pockets upwards of $45m (£26.1m) for his efforts, a world record purse, and the fight is set to go down as the most lucrative pay-per-view show in history.

The judges scored the fight 114-114, 116-112, 117-111.

Mayweather was never threatened, making his Mexican foe look ordinary at times, and the announcement of CJ Ross's drawn card was met with stunned silence.

"It is about skills," said five-weight world champion Mayweather. "I came out and showed my skills.

"I just listened to my corner, listened to my dad [Floyd Sr, who is also his trainer]. My dad had a brilliant game-plan and I went out there and got the job done.''

"I didn't know how to get him - it's extremely simple,'' said Alvarez, who was previously unbeaten in 43 fights.

Saul Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather
Alvarez started in cautious fashion and was picked off by Mayweather when he tried to apply pressure

"We tried to catch him but he's a great fighter, very intelligent. There was no solution for him."

With tickets at the MGM Grand changing hands for a reported $30,000 (£18,900), many expected the 23-year-old champion would at least push Mayweather close.

However, such was Mayweather's defensive mastery that it never caught fire as a contest, with Alvarez spending much of the fight either hitting arms or swinging at fresh air.

The first round, which Mayweather won courtesy of little more than a couple of snappy jabs, was a sign of things to come, with the second panning out in much the same fashion.

When Alvarez tried to apply some educated pressure in the fourth, Mayweather made the most of the openings, getting through with some typically incisive combinations.

Alvarez turned to rough-house tactics in the sixth but, as Britain's Ricky Hatton learned when he was beaten by Mayweather in 2007, the American is equally adept on the inside.

Mayweather got through with a vicious uppercut in the seventh, by which time Alvarez looked for all the world like a beaten man.

The Mexican might have nicked rounds eight, nine and 10 as Mayweather took a breather but the American was back on his toes down the stretch, easily getting the better of the final two rounds.

Despite witnessing another Mayweather masterclass, Ross - who courted controversy by awarding Timothy Bradley a victory over Manny Pacquiao last yearexternal-link - somehow thought Alvarez had done enough to earn a draw.

But sanity prevailed, meaning the Mayweather gravy train rumbles on - he has four fights remaining on the reported $200m contract he signed with American network Showtime in February.

Mayweather has now made $73m (£46m) for two fights in 2013 - he easily beat fellow American Robert Guerrero in May - making him the highest-paid athlete in the world for the second successive year.

On the MGM Grand undercard, Danny Garcia, who knocked out Britain's Amir Khan in 2012, was awarded a split-decision victory over Argentina's Lucas Matthysse.

Big-hitting Matthysse was the favourite to take Garcia's WBC and WBA light-welterweight belts but was outboxed by his American opponent.

Former British light-welterweight champion Ashley Theophane was also beaten on a split decision in his first fight under Mayweather's promotional umbrella.

The 33-year-old Londoner put up a good show against experienced Mexican Pablo Cesar Cano but was ultimately outclassed.

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289 comments

  • For me, you have to ask questions about her judging another big fight. I suspect something bent.

    Its harder to sell PPV if your guy always wins and FMJ has that multi-fight contract. Another UD would not help. Bring her in - known for mad decisions - and have her score it to make it look closer than it was .. . Evidence? None! But, you know boxing ... .

  • Yeah, I think its was no closer than 4 rounds on any cards, but then, in the second fight it was scored closer.

    If ever the problems of judging needed highlighting you would only need to look at Burns fight and then FMJ v Canelo.

    For me Burns lost by at least 4 rounds and FMJ won every round against Canelo, yet there was a draw scored; even the two other cards 117-111 and 116-112 were a joke

  • @286 Yes, opinions, of course. These discussions do give you an insight into the problems of judging, because just you and I are talking about a gap of four rounds there, between us.

    Those judges gave it to Mayweather by 3 or 4 rounds each, didn't they?

  • @284

    Fair enough, its about opinions, I had FMJ winning by two (he didnt lose any of the first 6 IMO), and the judges (all of them) had him doing so by even bigger margins - so for me it won't taint his record at all.

  • Why are there no HYS comments allowed for real news BBC?

  • @281 Fair enough re "just score the fight", but for me it was an even bigger travesty that he lost the fight and his title than if he had lost as a challenger. I think Castillo won it by two rounds. Did then and now.

    @282 Yes, FMJ is still the greatest boxer active today. His legacy as undefeated (which unless he fights Golovkin he will keep, IMO) is tainted by the 'win' that never was though.

  • @150.Ray
    "I think too many people get caught up in how he acts instead of paying attention to what he does in the ring"

    There are some comments here that say boxing should be banned. Personally I think those making these comments are imbeciles but Mayweather's out of ring behaviour gives these people all the ammunition they need. Boxing needs positive role models - not obnoxious women beaters.

  • @280 Agree Castillo won the first fight for me. Boxing is obsessed with unbeaten records and that is one FMJ doesnt have in my eyes. On the other hand, that shouldn't change the view that he is probably the best boxer of this generation. The '0' is just for Floyd's commercial success (as it is for a lot of pretenders who are still unbeaten), it weighs less for me when placing him among the greats

  • It was close I agree, but I still think the cleaner work was undoubtedly his - I don't subscribe to the whole 'it's his title you have to take it off him' just score the fight!!!

    Ironically the second fight, which FMj won even clearer IMO was scored closer

  • @279 For Castillo v Mayweather I, I just cannot see how FMJ won that fight. The US commentary all thought he lost, the Compubox showed him throwing and landing much less. Many others share this view, the crowd boo'd the decision too. The fight was for Castillo's title, so FMJ had to be a clear winner, but I do not see it. By the way, I'm not anti-FMJ, just don't think he won that first fight.

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