Alvarez victorious against Jacobs to unify Middleweight crown

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez defeated Daniel Jacobs in a highly anticipated matchup to unify middleweight championship belts at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday Night. The fight was the first big matchup for Alvarez after he signed a huge deal to fight exclusively on the streaming service DAZN in the United States last fall.

The judges awarded Alvarez the majority decision victory with scorecards of 115-113 twice and 116-112 in a fight and it wasn’t that close.

The fight itself started off about as slow as a fight could start as both fighters in the opening round landed 12 punches total. It became a chess match as it grew along with despite the pro-Canelo crowd behind him, there just wasn’t a lot of action in the opening rounds of this fight. That lack of action became even a match described on the DAZN broadcast as an “impressive defensive display” and mentioned Floyd Mayweather in regards to that.

Those in the boxing world have been accustomed to what that means, which is “nothing is happening.”

???⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️#CaneloJacobs pic.twitter.com/EAYervS3YG

— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) May 5, 2019

The crowd at first was active and alive but by the middle rounds, it became church mouse quiet as a reflection of the lack of sustained action in the ring. Part of that may be because as mentioned, that the bigger in the ring looking Jacobs, wasn’t able to get inside of Alvarez and get a solid position on him as our David Schacht hinted at before the fight.

Another reason may as well as he seemed bigger and a step slower because he came in heavier on a Saturday morning weigh in as part of the fight agreement.

Through 8 Rounds:
Canelo — 110/284 (39%)
Jacobs — 76/387 (20%)#CaneloJacobs @DAZN_USA

— CompuBox (@CompuBox) May 5, 2019

Jacobs in the championship rounds made an adjustment and went back to establishing the jab along with flashes of pressure but Alvarez who had been countering all fight long was able to stay nimble and fight off the ropes when the situation called for it. The closest to any form of a knockdown was a slip in the last round that referee Tony Weeks asked for a towel for clean up.

Actually, two of the judges gave Jacobs both of the last two rounds to narrow their cards to 115-113 or it would have been a more lopsided decision for Alvarez:

Official scorecards from #CaneloJacobs #Boxing pic.twitter.com/FPZVdAHosc

— PGant (@goforitgant) May 5, 2019

With the win for Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) he picks up the IBF Middleweight belt from Jacobs. He stated after the fight he “wanted the biggest fight” when asked who he wanted to face next.

Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) tipped his hat off to Alvarez when the fight was over and stated he’d “look at the tapes” to see what he had done in his contest against Alvarez and thought he had won. When asked about his weight, he stated he felt fine and “paid the hefty fine for it.”

ANOTHER BELT TO THE COLLECTION. ?#CaneloJacobs pic.twitter.com/aeNbSMqMQP

— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) May 5, 2019