(Photo credit: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME) By Albert Adame: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0, 30 KO’s) and WBC junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-1, 14 KO’s) put on a great show tonight. Trout took Canelo to school early, and arguably throughout the fight. Canelo couldn’t find a way in, and simply could not adapt to Trout’s longer reach. Trout’s movement was slick, and his jab was even slicker. He fought a highly intelligent fight the way you would expect a boxer to do so. But of course, tonight was destined to end in some kind of controversy.
Early in the fight Trout bombarded Canelo’s body with combinations, and clearly got the better of Canelo. By the 5th round Saul was slow, and gassed out while Trout continued to pressure the young Mexican star with combination after combination. This is where things get tricky. Trout threw numerous combinations, but actually connected with few. With each 5 blows Trout threw, he only connected with maybe about 2, while Canelo only connected with 1. That one shot Canelo would connect with were always power shots, and sometimes made Canelo appear somewhat desperate to make something happen. This and Trout’s constant movement is what made the fight so hard to score. Do you give points to Trout for the pressure and slick combinations/movement? Or do you give it to Canelo for each devastating shot he landed that would lunge Trout backwards (especially with the uppercut)?
Well, from my final scorecard, Canelo had the edge by ONE point. A point that saved his golden zero due to his nice knockdown of Trout in round 7. However, spectators could have easily had it the other way around and even given Trout the victory by one point. Commentators Malignaggi, and Farhood had my exact score at the end while Bernstein had a draw. Personally, I think a draw would have been so much more justified, but apparently the judges were not having any of that.
All 3 judges had Canelo winning by a largely significant margin. Hometown Texas judge even had it as 116 – 111 for Canelo which is downright absurd. It was clear the judges were in favor of Canelo winning the fight regardless, but considering that many had him winning by one point anyway, why take away so much from Trout by making him appear as if he got slaughtered? I felt really bad for Trout because at the end of the day, I think most boxing fans came out of this bout a Trout fan, and still doubting Canelo of being worthy. On top of that, a humble Trout made no excuses, or even argued about the judges during his post-fight interview. Both Trout and Canelo spoke like true champions, but unfortunately only Canelo came out of the ring with a belt strapped around his waist.
I’m pretty conflicted with this final result. There was no robbery to be had, and I can already see other editors on this site putting up heated articles claiming robbery. Ironically, those articles should be taken with a grain of salt considering those same authors have been blasting at Canelo for weeks now. I went into this fight rooting for Canelo, but I did understand this was truly a 50/50 coin toss on paper. However, even with this victory, Canelo had much trouble with Trout and he should seriously reconsider stepping into the same ring with the final big boss himself, Floyd Mayweather. Because that would end with Canelo’s face busted up similar to Donaire’s last week at the hands of Rigondeaux. Canelo needs more experience, and again serious competition. A rematch with Trout will surely not happen, but I really hope they steer away from putting Canelo up against Cotto. That’s a bout that will only hurt Canelo’s in-ring experience, rather than actually help him advance. As for Trout, I am most certain that his next bout will generate great revenue. His next opponent will not be determined for a while, but I honestly hope to see Mayweather face Trout in the future rather than Canelo, if it’s ever considered.
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