LAS VEGAS -- Regardless of styles or situations, boxing's biggest star once again proved he can get a victory when the lights are the brightest.
Headlining yet another huge card on Cinco de Mayo weekend, Canelo Alvarez unified a trio of middleweight world titles in a close and competitive unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs at T-Mobile Arena.
Unlike a pair of recent action fights in the same building against former champion Gennady Golovkin, the victory for Alvarez was more of the chess match variety as he outlanded Jacobs 120 to 89 on power punches, according to CompuBox. But like the two disputed GGG bouts, the outcome was very much in doubt as the scorecards were read.
Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) landed 45 percent of his punches overall to take home scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 and retain his claim as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. CBS Sports scored the fight 114-114.
"It was just what we thought because of the style of fight that he brings but we just did our job," Alvarez said. "We knew he was going to be a difficult fighter but thank God we did things the right way."
Although the fight was tense throughout, both fighters had trouble landing hard shots cleanly as their respective boxing abilities and the threat of their punching power somewhat canceled each other out. The bout did have ebbs and flows, however, as Jacobs rebounded nicely from a dominant stretch by Alvarez in the middle rounds with a switch southpaw and lowering his opponent's output.
"I feel great. I'll have to go back to the tapes and see exactly what the judges thought but I had conversations with my corner that I was up yet I still pressed forward because I wanted to finish strong," Jacobs said. "He is a heck of a champion and I have to take my hat off to him."
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