Saul Alvarez decisions Austin Trout, unifies WBC/WBA light middleweight titles

Saul "El Canelo" Alvarez eked out a unanimous decision over Austin Trout, to unify the WBC and WBA Light Middleweight titles, Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Alvarez won on scores of 115-112, 116-111, and 118-109. An early seventh round knockdown did a lot to damage Trout's chances of winning, but the previously undefeated American gamely fought on, and actually out-landed his opponent by the final bell, 154-124. The first four rounds were all close with most at ringside scoring it differently. Some saw it 3-1 for Alvarez, some saw it 3-1 for Trout, and some even saw it even. Trout looked like he was gaining momentum in the fifth and sixth rounds but Alvarez turned the tide by scoring the only knockdown of the night in the seventh round.  Alvarez dropped Trout with a solid right straight at the start of the round and looked for the kill, but the gallant Trout stood his ground and kept throwing. He actually had Alvarez on the ropes as the round ended but he still lost the 10-8 on all of the scorecards because of the knockdown. Trout picked himself up from the first knockdown he suffered in his entire career pretty nicely, but Alvarez already had the momentum. Because of WBC's open scoring policy, the scores were read after the eighth round and these revealed that the judges had the Mexican winning the fight handily.The three judges had it 80-71, 78-73, and 76-75 for Alvarez which meant that Trout needed a knockout or a sweep of the final four rounds plus a knockdown to win. Knowing that he was on his way to victory, Alvarez then settled into boxing from the outside to prevent any accidents from happening.

Pic: @canelooficial wins by unanimous decision against @nodoubttrout! What a fight!! #CaneloTrout @shosports twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxin… — GoldenBoyPromotions (@GoldenBoyBoxing) April 21, 2013

Pic: @canelooficial & @nodoubttrout show each other respect and thank one another for taking the fight #CaneloTrout twitter.com/GoldenBoyBoxin… — GoldenBoyPromotions (@GoldenBoyBoxing) April 21, 2013

The promoter of Alvarez had nothing but good words for the fighter after the win. "He wants to learn, he wants to improve, he wants to please and he's only 22. He has the potential to be one of the best in history," said Golden Boy Promotions big boss Oscar de la Hoya. In the post-fight press conference, Alvarez acknowledged that Trout was a difficult opponent for him, saying, "I really like to throw left body shots and I couldn't do that with Trout. He was a good fighter, difficult southpaw."  The Mexican Alvarez improves his record to 42 wins (30 KOs) and one draw, while Trout slumps to 26 wins (14 KOs) and one loss. The red-haired fighter now looks forward to new challenges including a possible fight with Puetro Rican Miguel Cotto, a fighter who recently lost to Trout. However, there's one fight that Alvarez wants to happen:  "I've said it before and ill say it again, I'd like to fight Floyd Mayweather." - AMD/CLP, GMA News