Masterclass! Terence Crawford beats up Canelo Alvarez to recapture undisputed gold | Fight of the Century

Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford squared off in a super middleweight contest earlier tonight (Sat. Sept. 13, 2025) live on Netflix inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. After 12 entertaining rounds of action, Crawford was named the winner via unanimous decision.

Crawford opened the fight by flashing his jab. Alvarez pressed early but didn’t throw a shot in the opening 90 seconds, a right hand swing that came up short. His follow up right hook found the mark below the elbow, but Crawford fired back with a nice two-punch combination. Crawford blocked the next few Canelo offerings upstairs and took a cross to the body himself before the end of the round.

Alvarez found the body early on with his right hook, but Crawford answered immediately with two punches upstairs. The Southpaw continued to work behind his jab. Alvarez pressed and partially found that body hook again. Crawford timed a few counters well, and there was a simultaneous trade of good shots. On the whole, it was a solid round for Crawford, who landed the better shots upstairs.

Crawford’s jab landed well early in the third. He also caught Alvarez with his hands low, timing a left hand as Alvarez slipped his head. Canelo continued to fight that lead hook to the body, but otherwise, he was having a tough time getting through the gloves of Crawford. One of those Alvarez right hooks also saw him eat a left in return. Alvarez found a nice right hand to the mid-section in his best land of the round.

After three rounds, it was still anyone’s fight, but Crawford seemed to have a small lead.

“Bud” was sharp immediately at the start of the fourth. In his best sequence yet, he stung some fast jabs and then unleashed a lengthy counter combination that found the mark. Alvarez increased the pressure in response, landing a nice right hand on the chin. Then, he took it downstairs to the chest well. Alvarez continued to open up and landed well as a result. Crawford doubled up on the left hook to good effect. In the last exchange of the best round yet, Alvarez landed a right and absorbed a check hook.

Alvarez started off the fifth by jabbing more, which seemed to surprise “Bud” a bit. Crawford landed one nice counter jab in the middle of an exchange, but Alvarez controlled most of the exchanges, taking his right hand up-and-down the body to good effect. Crawford didn’t throw much, giving up the round clearly.

Crawford came out firing in the sixth, standing his ground and fighting in combination right away. He landed a beautiful left hand as a result, catching Alvarez on the way in. He landed a nice uppercut too. The Southpaw started smiling and showboating a bit, feeling the action. Alvarez found one solid right hand in the middle of the round, but Crawford really pulled the momentum right back into his corner.

The two stood their ground and traded in the pocket to start round seven. Alvarez found his body hook again, but Crawford timed a couple nice head shots in the trade as well. Crawford’s defense was looking really sharp, picking off the head shots of Canelo with impressive consistency. Even when cornered, Crawford exchanged evenly. Throughout all of this, the jab of Crawford continued to make a difference in volume.

Showing off his hand speed, Crawford threw about six-punches early in the eighth, tapping Canelo in the mid-section and upstairs. Alvarez landed a nice right to the body, but he needed more connections upstairs or an increase in volume. He doubled down on his body punches, which was sort of a solution. On the numbers, Crawford was still ahead largely on the strength of his jab.

Crawford landed heavy in the opening of the ninth! Alvarez stood his ground and fired back hard, leading to the most heated exchange of the fight as both men threw down. Crawford landed the better shots, then an accidental head butt opened a small cut on “Bud’s” forehead when they clinched. On the reset, Alvarez split Crawford’s guard with a right, and then the duo trade crosses. Double left hand scored for Crawford, and then the two traded rear straights one more time before the bell.

With just nine minutes remaining, Crawford appeared to be ahead — boxing judges cannot be trusted — but Canelo was very much in the fight.

The two boxing masters continued to work into the tenth, and both men seemed to have their range well by this point. Subsequently, each landed reasonably well when they initiated, but the difference was that Crawford always fired right back with a counter shot. It was still a really close round though, as Canelo likely landed the best two punches of the round with his long right.

Alvarez opened the eleventh with a hammering body shot, and Crawford returned fire with a slick uppercut. Crawford put together several hard combinations when the two exchanged from within the phone booth. Alvarez wore the damage well and landed a heavy two-punch combination of his own. On the counter, Crawford put together three shots that all landed well.

With three minutes remaining, it felt like Canelo Alvarez needed a statement round. He tried to press, but Crawford’s counter combinations were really on point in their opening exchanges. He also landed a beautiful slip-left hand counter then a nasty counter jab. Canelo still has an incredible chin but was looking a little out of ideas with a minute remaining. In the final minute, Crawford was actually walking down Canelo and landing hard shots, including several aggressive left hands in the closing seconds.

It was a stellar way to close the show.

Fortunately, the judges recognized the obvious and awarded Crawford the decision. It’s a good thing he closed the show so strong though, because two of the judges only had him winning by a single round! Though there were a lot of close rounds, all but one of the truly definitive rounds went in the direction of “Bud.” It’s a historic victory for Crawford, who rose to the moment and showed off his technical boxing mastery.

Result: Crawford defeats Alvarez via unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113)

For complete Canelo vs. Crawford results and play-by-play, click here.

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