Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez destroys Callum Smith in vicious, one-sided title fight

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez made sure Callum Smith was in a world of pain during their title fight as the Mexican absolutely destroyed the lanky Brit.

Alvarez was far too strong.

Callum Smith came over from England for the biggest fight of his career but Saul “Canelo” Alvarez proved why he is the king.

The Mexican unified the WBA and WBC Super Middleweight titles with a unanimous points decision win over Smith in the headline fight of a blockbuster card in Texas.

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Alvarez racked up career win 54 in his 57th fight, showing all of his experience as Smith struggled with the step-up in class from his previous bouts.

The British fighter was in career-best form heading into the clash but never threatened to land enough meaningful blows as Canelo dictated terms for the entirety of the fight.

Smith was more active in a cagey opening as both men eased their way into the action but Alvarez started pushing forward in the second and pressured Smith into the ropes. The 30-year-old gave away an 18cm height disadvantage and focused on closing the distance as Smith struggled to get his long jab working.

The Brit was trying hard but in the first three rounds had connected with just 19 per cent of his punches as Alvarez moved smoothly around the ring.

For the next few rounds Alvarez continued to pepper Smith with body punches, wearing him down as he struggled to counter-attack with any shots of his own.

“Canelo is a better boxer. Canelo is better defensively. Canelo hits harder. Canelo is more versatile,” combat sports reporter Kevin Iole tweeted.

Alvarez landed a brutal uppercut in the eighth round but even though Smith was doing his best to retaliate, his biggest swings weren’t connecting and the Mexican managed to stay out of trouble for the most part.

A left hook looked like it would do some damage but Canelo just ate it and kept powering forwards.

Alvarez was unstoppable.

Alvarez drew blood in round nine and a vicious right hand — one of the hardest shots of the fight — really hurt Smith.

Alvarez went again with another uppercut as he moved in for the kill, forcing Smith against the ropes as he started letting his hands go with more uppercuts and powerful right hooks.

Smith had his hands up but his defence was limp and doing nothing to prevent Alvarez’s punches from breaking through. At one stage it seemed like Smith was being held up by the ropes and it became clear it was only a matter of time until Alvarez motored to victory.

“Smith is getting beat up. He cannot stay there and take these shots,” one commentator said.

More hard rights and a body shot filled the 10th as Smith dropped his hands to suck in some air, feeling the pinch of the one-sided beatdown. Alvarez landed 30 punches to Smith’s six in that round as fans roared for an early finish.

Smith may have been copping an awful beating but he showed courage to stay on his feet. He’d never been knocked down in his pro career and he wasn’t going to start now, even if he had no answers to the violent onslaught brought his way.

Smith lasted the full 12 rounds but it was Alvarez who cemented his status as a three-division world champion.

Smith only landed 14 per cent of his total punches while Alvarez hit cleanly with 32 per cent of his strikes.

“Brilliant performance by Canelo, even though Smith is no great shakes,” Iole tweeted. “(Canelo) showed why he’s No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world.”

Veteran boxing writer Dan Rafael called it “domination” from Alvarez while one TV commentator added: “He looked scary and he looked like a bully.”

Smith kept eating punch after punch.