Canelo Álvarez vs. Liam Smith
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | September 17, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBO light middleweight championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Álvarez defeats Smith via 9th round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Canelo Álvarez vs. Liam Smith was a professional boxing match contested on September 17, 2016, for the WBO light middleweight championship.[1]
Background
Shortly after his victory for Amir Khan, Canelo Álvarez and his team invited fellow middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin into the ring to promote a future fight between them. During the post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman, Álvarez stated, "Let's fight now."[2] 11 days later however, on 18 May 2016, Álvarez vacated his WBC title which was immediately awarded to Gennady Golovkin.[3]
On 24 June, it was announced that Álvarez was to drop back to 154 and challenge 27 year old WBO champion Liam Smith on 17 September, in the main event of HBO PPV card. On 18 July, Golden Boy Promotions confirmed that the bout would take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the MGM Grand in Las Vegas being the other venue in contention to host the fight.[4] Having fought his last five fights at his preferred 155-pound catchweight, Canelo said, "I am very pleased to announce my next fight against Liam Smith, a tremendous fighter with real knockout power, and the WBO light middleweight world title owner, I have no doubt that this fight will be give and take, which will fill the expectations of the fans, and I will work with all the enthusiasm as I always do to get the upper hand on Sept. 17."[4]
The fight
In front of a record breaking crowd of 51,240, Álvarez would largely control the bout, dropping the champion in the 7th and 8th round. A left hook to the body in round nine sent Smith down again and he failed to beat to count, giving Álvarez a knockout victory. Álvarez landed 157 punches from 422 thrown a connect rate of 37%, compared to Smith landing 115 from 403 thrown, a connect rate of 29%.[5][6][7]
Aftermath
The fight drew an estimate of 300,000 PPV buys.[8]
Golden Boy president Eric Gomez spoke to Ring magazine in December, stating that Álvarez had no immediate plans to vacate the WBO title and may fight in the first quarter of 2017 at 154, defending his world title. He also stated that there were still plans for Álvarez to fight Golovkin later in the year.[9]
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:[10]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light middleweight | 150 lbs. |  Canelo Álvarez
|
def. |  Liam Smith (c)
|
KO | 9/12 | 2:28 | Note 1 |
| Middleweight | 160 lbs. |  Willie Monroe Jr.
|
def. | Gabriel Rosado
|
UD | 12 | Note 2 | |
| Featherweight | 126 lbs. | Joseph Diaz (c)
|
def. | Andrew Cancio
|
TKO | 9/10 | 2:27 | Note 3 |
| Super bantamweight | 122 lbs. | Diego de la Hoya
|
def. |  Luis Orlando Del Valle
|
UD | 10 | ||
| Preliminary Card | ||||||||
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Sadam Ali
|
def. | Saul Corral
|
UD | 10 | ||
| Light welterweight | 140 lbs. | Vergil Ortiz Jr.
|
def. | Ernesto Hernandez
|
KO | 1/4 | 0:40 | |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Hector Tanajara Jr.
|
def. | Roy Garcia
|
UD | 4 | ||
| Bantamweight | 118 lbs. | Joshua Franco
|
def. | Bryan Bazan
|
KO | 4/6 | 0:19 | |
| Light welterweight | 140 lbs. | Zachary Ochoa
|
def. | Daniel Montoya
|
UD | 8 | ||
| Light middleweight | 150 lbs. | Alexis Salazar Flores
|
def. | Larry Smith
|
UD | 6 | ||
| Cruiserweight | 200 lbs. | Anthony Yarde
|
def. | Rayford Johnson
|
TKO | 1/6 | 2:10 | |
^Note 1 For WBO Light middleweight title
^Note 2 For vacant WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight title
^Note 3 For NABF Featherweight title
Broadcasting
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} Australia |
Main Event |
| Latin America | Canal Space |
 Panama |
RPC |
| United Kingdom |
BoxNation |
| United States |
HBO |
References
- ^ "Saul Alvarez vs. Liam Smith". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Canelo, De La Hoya seem ready to make fight with Golovkin after KO". CBS Sports. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Alvarez vacates title, still wants Golovkin fight". 18 May 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Canelo to fight 154-pound titlist Smith on Sept. 17". 24 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ^ "Canelo vs. Smith results: Alvarez scores ninth-round TKO with massive body shot". CBSSports.com. 18 September 2016.
- ^ "Canelo stops Smith, says he isn't ducking GGG". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Liam Smith v Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez: Briton loses WBO light-middleweight title". BBC Sport. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ Rafael, Dan (11 October 2016). "Oscar De La Hoya happy with Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith PPV numbers". ESPN. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "Canelo has no immediate plans to vacate 154-pound title". TheRing. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".