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Canelo Alvarez is back. The Mexican superstar (59-2-2, 39 KOs) hasn’t had the easiest couple of years, but he’s won his last two fights and still holds all the belts in the super-middleweight division. This time out, he’s surprised everyone with his choice of opponent. The expectation had been that he’d fight middleweight champion, Jermall Charlo- but Jermall’s ongoing health issues scuppered that. So instead, he moved on to the undisputed middleweight champion- Jermell Charlo. The (slightly) younger and (slightly) smaller twin (35-1-1, 19 KOs) jumps two weight classes, giving us a battle of undisputed vs undisputed and an intriguing, unexpected matchup.
Read our preview of the main event here.
The co-main event puts rising junior-middleweight star Jesus Alejandro Ramos Jr (20-0-0, 16 KOs) in with former title challenger Erickson Lubin (25-2-0, 18 KOs). Both are exciting fighters and Lubin should provide an excellent test of the 22-year-old Ramos’ ability to handle the top level. It’s definitely one to watch.
Also featuring on the main card is a welterweight contest between Yordenis Ugas and Mario Barrios, two proven world-level fighters aiming to work themselves back into title contention by winning an interim WBC belt. And the pay-per-view card opens with a pair of prospects, unbeaten Elijah Garcia stepping in with Jose Armando Resendiz.
The main card starts at 8pm ET, and will be available as a $84.99 Showtime pay-per-view. Find full details on how to watch the main event here.
This page will feature live round-by-round coverage of the main and co-main, and in-depth coverage of the entire main card.
The prelims, available on youtube and which you can follow with us here, will feature Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez, aiming to work his way into title contention, as well as former light-heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, on the comeback trail in 2023 after spending four years out of the sport.
Showtime haven’t yet revealed the exact schedule of the prelims or if all scheduled fights will be shown, but we’ll have results from them as well and highlights as and when we can.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo live play-by-play
Round 1: Alright, here we go with the main event. Let’s see how Charlo handles this step up, and where Canelo is after what seemed like a downturn in form over the last two years. Intersting that straight from the opening Canelo seems to be looking to be light on his feet- not typical for him. Barely a punch throwin in the opening minute. Canelo swings wild with a left to the body. He has to be really careful, he’s gassed himself with those loaded shots in both his last two fights, despite winnin gthe. A left upstairs lands on Charlo’s gloves. Then he steps in and throws a right. Couple of clubbing shots, he’s very deliberately hitting Charlo’s biceps here, somethings he’s been known to do. Not a scoring punch, but a useful one. Anyway, so little actually happened there that I’m going for a first for me and scoring it 10-10.
Round 2: This is more like it from Canelo, pushing Charlo to the ropes and unloading. Charlo jabbing but not really landing. Does get a bodyshot home. Canelo responds in kind. There’s some mess tie-ups already so far, too. Charlo ducks under a huge left hook. Big bodyshot lands from Canelo. And a straight right. Canelo treating Charlo a bit like he did Plant- going a bit rough-and-ready to break through the defences quickly. 10-9 Canelo, 20-19
Round 3: Canelo really looking to make it physical against Charlo, who don’t forget is jumping up two divisions for this. Lands a big bodyshot, it’s called low (to the hip) but it’ll still slow Charlo’s movement. Straight right connects upstairs and Charlo seems to feel it. And as we go on, I do think Canelo has definitely been working on speeding up his footwork, a lot of small rapid steps to keep Charlo pinned in a way we don’t usually see from him. Big left hook and Charlo ducks under and holds. Snappy jab. Jermell jabbing nicely, but he’s not really doing much in the way of power punches. Canelo also not sitting on the stool between rounds- he’s fired up here. 10-9 Canelo, 30-28
Round 4: Lead left hook splits Charlo’s guard as we get going. Charlo is struggling to land much – despite Canelo’s seeminngly reduced head movement he still evades most of what’s thrown. Once again marching forward and throwing big shots. Charlo throws a little combination followed by an uppercut, Canelo slips back from it and counters. Pushes Charlo into a corner then clocks him with a big overhand right. Charlo get a big left hook counter in a few seconds later. This is a bullying performance from Canelo though. 10-9 Canelo, 40-37
Round 5: Canelo pushing once again. An exchange of left hooks leaves Charlo rocking back a bit. That said, a little while later he lands another big left of his own that Canelo feels. Still marching forward though. Canelo having a lot of success faking a jab then stepping in and coming round Charlo’s guard with a right hand. Charlo slips trying to land another left hook. Doesn’t fall, just slides a bit, but he’s got to be careful not to overbalance, if Canelo had been a step closer that could have been trouble. Nice combination from Jermell, and a nice left hook. Bodyshot and right hand from Canelo. 10-9 Canelo, 50-46, but that’s Charlo’s best round for punches landed.
Round 6: Jermell trying to move more now, but he’s struggling to find the space. Canelo left hook lands. He misses with a big looping left but lands the follow up right. Then moves Charlo about with a hook. Now to the ropes and Charlo ties up. It should be oted that while Canelo is missing these huge hooks, he’s not overbalancing when he does- an improvement from the Golovkin trilogy fight in particular. Jermell in this round appears to have mostly decided to make Canelo work in hopes of getting some payoff later- didn’t do much in his own right. 10-9 Canelo, 60-55
Round 7: Derrick James trying to light a fire under Charlo, telling him he’s six rounds down and imploring him to let his hands go more. He is in this round to be fair, throwing a few combinations. Takes one to the body and a big right hand lands for Canelo, Jermell takes a knee. Gets up and Canelo goes on the attack. Minute and a half left for Charlo to survive. Not just trying to survive though- throwing some big shots of his own in answer, and lands a big left hook. They clinch up and Canelo works the body, before they tie up. A big left hook lands by Canelo but also told off for hitting behind the back. Jermell makes it out the round. 10-8 Canelo, 70-63
Round 8: Canelo connects with an early left hook. Charlo trying to fight fire with fire, lands a snappy upwards right. Thing is though, Canelo’s chin is incredible and he knows how to sway with shots to take the sting off. It means he can keep walking forward, making it impossible for Charlo to back him off with any consistency. Does briefly with about a minute to go with a combination, but back to the ropes rapidly. A bodyshot sees him holding on. A jab pushes Charlo to the ropes, a right hand brings them to the ropes and Charlo ties up again. 10-9 Canelo, 80-72, and Charlo returns to the corner with the look of a man who knows he has no answers
Round 9: Derrick James tells Charlo that Canelo is tired. It’s not an unreasonable assumption going by form but he’s not shown it yet- Charlo would dispute the idea that Canelo isn’t throwing punches. Charlo does open up and briefly backs him up with a combination. But crunching bodyshots come back at him. Does land a left hook upstairs. Uppercut by Canelo. Jermell starting to wise up to the ‘fake jab, step in right’ trick, but he’s just blocking it, not countering it just yet. He’s trying to work the body a bit more, but that’s a very ard thing to do against Canelo. Canelo continues to land his own bodyshots, and this is very much not the performance of a tired man. 10-9 Canelo, 90-81
Round 10: Jermell tries to step forward with combinations, but is rapidly backed up again and then eats a combination. If either one of these is looking tired it’s Charlo, though he’s not gassing or anything. Big left hook to the body has Jermell wincing, though he continues to move well. Canelo still beating up the shoulders and arms. Canelo lets Charlo get a bit of distance, then double jabs and steps in with an uppercut. 10-9 100-90
Round 11: Derrick James’ advice is to stop moving and just exchnage, keep the combinations up till Canelo folds. That’s… what he needs to do to win, yes, but doing that with Canelo is asking for counters and Jermell very obviously knows that. A bit right hand wobbles Jermell. Misses a return left hand. Canelo continues to press, Charlo lands a neat uppercut but still shipping far more than he throws. Jabs backing Charlo up. A bodyshot by Canelo is countered by a solid right then left. Then Canelo a right of his own. 10-9 Canelo 110-99
Round 12: There was an interesting moment in the corner as James once again repeated that Charlo should not stop punching and Charlo looked up to the heavens. Whether he was rolling his eyes or just looking to heaven for guidance (I don’t know if he’s religious) I don’t know but he didn’t look like he appreciated the advice either way. Jermell largely just popping ajab and tying up now- he really doesn’t have the energy to just keep throwing, even aside from that being too dangerous against this opponent. A nice left hook does land then he holds again. This is quite a wrestly final round, Charlo landing the odd shot, Canelo landing the odd shot more. Charlo misses a big left and the bell goes. Clear and dominant Canelo victory, 120-108
Official scores: 119-108, 118-109 118-109 Canelo
An excellent performance, and he put those worries of declining stamina behind him, pushing the pace from bell to bell.
Jesus Ramos Jr vs. Erickson Lubin live play-by-play
Round 1: Ramos is facing probably the toughest test of his career here (though his former opponent Mendoza did score a spectacular upset over Sebastian Fundora earlier in the year, so he’s shown smoe levels). Lubin is very skilled, but potentially fragile. Since Ramos is huge and a big puncher, that could factor.
Opening round quite cagey, Lubin keeping it long and jabbing with Ramos. They’re both reaching a bit with their punches, throwing lefts (they’re both southpaws) from too far. Ramos closing range a little bit better behind a double jab as the round closes, lands to the body. Very close, but Ramos probably did marginally more. 10-9 Ramos.
Round 2: Lubin’s focus is stabbing body jabs so far. It’s not a bad approach but it’s hard with a reach disadvantage. Ramos keeping him on the backfoot, though not throwing too often so far. You can see he’s been working on his defence- far more aware of keeping his guard up than we’ve usually seen from him before. With about a minute left he closes distance against the ropes and unloads to the body then throws an uppercut. Lubin has a tendency to do that, let the fight get into the pocket- he prefers fighting there skills-wise, he’s just wary about it because of his potentially ropey chin. Ramos ripping the body again as the round closes. 10-9 Ramos, 20-18
Round 3: Lubin hasn’t got going at all here. Ramos switching nicely between a high-guard approach and his usually low-slung lead hand, which appears to be disconcerting Lubin a bit, doesn’t know what to throw at. Ramos jabbing to head and body then following up with powershots in the same vein. Without being fireworks yet, this is an extremely impressive performance so far. He is caught with one solid counter as he stalks with about 30 seconds left, but he responds by pinning Lubin to the ropes and unloading body shots. 10-9 Ramos, 30-27
Round 4: Lubin is a rabbit in the headlights so far, which is a surprise considering his experience edge. He took a beating from the enormous Sebastian Fundora a while back but he was scrapping consistently, it didn’t look like this. Does finally start to open up about a minute into this round, but it lasts all of 30 seconds before being pushed back to the ropes again. Ramos patient, he’s pushing but not overreaching, only really being caught by counters a couple of times. Into the final minute and once again he presses Lubin to the ropes and ripping the body followed by an uppercut. This is really, really good. 10-9 Ramos, 40-36
Round 5: Lubin trying to bring his jab into play but Ramos countering with bodyshots underneath it now. Lubin is starting to work the body himself now, but it’s once more a case of Lubin trying something, feeling the hard-hitting response, and backing off. Lubin now resorting to some pretty blatant holding once the fight gets in close. He’s trying more and has had some success, but nothing without an answer. He’s being drowned. 10-9 Ramos, 50-45
Round 6: Lubin’s corner told him he was winning between rounds. They were lying. To be fair, they also pleaded with him to tie up both hands when it goes to the ropes, so I don’t think they believed that themselves. He does tie both hands the first time they go to the ropes here, but the second time, Ramos is ready for it, evades the clinch, and punishes him for it. They go back to range and Ramos sinks a left hand to Lubin’s ribs. Lubin does land a decent straight left, but after that they once more end up on the ropes with Ramos hitting the body. Then a big overhand right as Ramos comes back in. Final 10 seconds sees Ramos posing and flexing. 60-54
Round 7: Kenny Cunningham telling Lubin Ramos is very slow. He is, again, lying. Slower than Lubin, but not slow. Tells Lubin what shots to throw, but no advice on how to handle the patient yet overwhelming attack he has to deal with to do that. Lubin does listen and does push Ramos back briefly, but after 40 seconds you can her Cunningham screaming at him as he backs off again. Then we find out why he’s doing that, as he steps forward and gets clocked by an overhand left. Finally a sharp short left out of the clinch, he needs more of that. Good overhand left at range, but Ramos responds once again by walking through it and getting him to the ropes. Lubin’s best round so far and the first one since the first he might have a chance of winning, but I’m still going 10-9 Ramos, 70-63
Round 8: For the first time we see Ramos the one holding, as he overreaches slightly and gets caught. Wasn’t hurt though, just taking the time to recover his position. Lubin much better about staying off the ropes from the first half of this round. Then does end up there just after that. Lubin tying up one hand, gets clocked with the other. Lubin having a voice in some of these exchanges now, trusting his hands more, but got clocked by a big left as he did that. He is finally in this fight, though.10-9 Ramos, 80-72
Round 9: Lubin jabbing well to start this round, keeping Ramos backed up. Managed to go a full two minutes without going to the ropes. He might actually win this round. Ramos bulls in and clinches up. Nice little combination with a jab and left hook. By some distance Lubin’s best round and Ramos may actually have slowed. Bodyshot by Lubin now. Stiff jab again. Miracle of miracles, he didn’t hit the ropes once in that round. 10-9 Lubin, 89-82 Ramos
Round 10: Ramos busier to open this, jabbing strongly and trying to sink in bodyshots from a bit more distance. Working for him, Lubin still keeping range but throwing less than the last round. Does go back to his own jab though. Bodyshot by Ramos. Good combination to the body by Lubin, single-punch response by Ramos. Then a bodyshot by Ramos and a jab. Still pressing but throwing much less. This is a very tight round, neither fighter threw a great deal. 10-9 Lubin, 98-92
Round 11: Honestly, Ramos might have gassed himself a bit here. Earlier Lubin couldn’t get anything going because everything was met with a step-in response – that is no longer true. Throwing less and even when he does he’s not neccessarily stepping in hehind it. As I say that, he closes range with an overhand left- Lubin slips out but doesn’t throw himself. Ramos jabs the body, then slides back nicely from the counters. He might be tired, but he’s staying efficient. Does reach a bit with a left and takes a double jab for his troubles. Crowd are booing, which is a bit harsh but we’ve had some good fights so far so their excitement has been up. Ramos wins a patient round, 10-9 Ramos, 108-102
Round 12: Cummingham giving Lubin a talking to. Tells him he’s got three minutes to get the job done. He’s not wrong, he almost certainly needs a knockout here. Ramos has seemingly decided to give it a bit more gas in the final round, pushing to the ropes again. Some messy clinching and a clash of heads on the break. Big left hook lands for Ramos. Lubin clinches again. Another jab-heavy round, Ramos controlling, seeing this out. Crowd booing again as the bell goes. 10-9 Ramos, 119-112. Could be a little closer, but I’d be very surprised by a Lubin win.
Offical scores: 115-113, 116-112, 117-111, Erickson Lubin
I’m surprised by that, but I should note that other scorers had the fight a lot closer than I did so I may have miscalibrated there. Honestly, to me that stinks. But even if you had it a lot closer, 117-111 to Lubin seems wild. Crowd are furious too.
Ramos classy in his post-fight interview, admits that he made a mistake in letting it stay at range as much as he did.
Main card live results and highlights
WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF super-middlweight title fight: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Jermell Charlo
Super-welterweight: Jesus Alejandro Ramos Jr UD Erickson Lubin 115-113, 116-112,117-111
- Next up is our co-main, as mentioned above a great crossroads scrap between the upcoming Ramos (20-0-0, 16 KOs) and the experienced Lubin (25-2-0, 18 KOs). We’re taking this one round-by-round, so check out that section above.
Interim WBC welterweight title: Mario Barrios UD Yordenis Ugas 117-108 118-107 118-107
- A bout between two former titleholders here. Ugas (27-5-0, 12 KOs) beat Pacquiao for a welterweight title before losing it to Errol Spence in 2022. He’s been out since then with an eye injury and returns here looking to get back into title contention.
- Barrios (27-2-0, 18 KOs) held his title at junior welterweight, until he lost it to Gervonta Davis in 2020. He lost his initial step up to welterweight too, against Keith Thurman, but scored a win over Jovie Santiago earlier this year and will hope to show he can be competitive at world level at this weight too.
- You can find our full round-by-round coverage of this fight over on this page.
- A cagey first round saw Ugas stalking carefully while Barrios periodically tried his in-and-out raids. Second round saw Barrios try to start a bit faster but get backed up fairly quickly by counters. That’s going to be a problem for him if he can’t find a way to approach safely. But the same goes for Ugas, who gets dropped by a jab as the round ends. Oops.
- Ugas responds to the embarrassment with a good round, including one really big bodyshot that hurt Barrios. You can see he’s 37 though- had to reign in the concerted barrage pretty quickly once it was clear Barrios wasn’t going to fold immediately. That’s both age and experience showing.
- Ugas is the far cleaner and more technically sound boxer of the pair here, which just makes his mistake earlier even odder. He’s really creating a lot of counter opportunities for himself here and catching Barrios standing straight up often. That said, his right eye is closing and that’s a big worry since that’s the one he had broken by Spence- and he hasn’t taken that many shots to it.
- Ugas closed round six with a shot way, way after the bell. Round seven sees Barrios push the pace a bit more. This isn’t a barnburner like the opener but it’s a decent fight.
- Honestly, with all due respect, Barrios is not fighting a smart fight tactically here. Letting the 37 year old Ugas control the pace too often. Yes, it’s true that when he raids without thought he’s getting countered hard, so he has to be careful, but even a consistently busy jab, and some circling movement to keep Ugas turning to follow him, would potentially pay dividends in the last few rounds. We’re in the ninth now and Ugas has barely had to extend himself.
- That isn’t to say Ugas is winning clearly because Barrios may well be up, and is starting to get more work done as it goes, but he isn’t putting a stamp on it.
- Barrios does start to take over with finality towards the end, and catches Ugas hard and sends him reeling at the end of the 11th. This will probably go 12, but it’s really a case of Ugas’ body failing him- he can’t handle even a fairly moderate pace and his eye just looks nasty.
- It almost didn’t- Ugas fell apart at the end. Dropped at the start of the 12th, spat his mouthpiece out repeatedly, and ended the fight reeling, barely surviving. This will be a solid win for Barrios on the whole, despite my criticism of some of his choices. Offical scores of 117-108 118-107 118-107
Middleweight: Elijah Garcia TKO-8 Jose Armando Resendiz
- Both of these guys are prospects, but Garcia (15-0-0, 12 KOs) is the one with the real hype behind him. Resendiz (14-1-0, 10 KOs) isn’t here as a nominated loser though- Resendiz is coming in off a win over Jarret Hurd, a former light-middleweight champion, and this is a solid test for Garcia.
- Garcia has picked up something of a reputation for starting a bit slowly but cranking the tempo and pression as the fight goes on. We’ll see how he reacts under the lights on the big show.
- The opening round was very close, with both men choosing to work in the pocket, until the final 20 seconds, when Garcia (a southpaw) landed a big left hand that buckled Resendiz and sent him reeling. He made it to the end of the round but he’s got work to do now.
- A terrific fight developing here, neither fighter giving an inch. Garcia got some good work done, but there was a portion in the middle where he let Resendiz unload on him without answer for a good amount of time- he blocked some of it but a lot went through too. He may have been hurt by something and frozen up briefly. Second round could have gone to anyone.
- The action continues through three. Garcia probably landing the slightly cleaner work and making his opponent wince with a big shot occasionally, but Resendiz giving him nothing for free and landing plenty of good work of his own. Both men also tearing it up to their body, so how the stamina lasts as the fight goes on is a question.
- Garcia fights in a stance with his lead hand low. I’m a fan of that typically, but although offensively it’s useful for him (helping him disguise his shots), he hasn’t got the positioning to make it work defensively, at least in this fight. Has to be careful.
- Garcia made the choice to fight a bit smarter, using his range, in the fifth. Resendiz struggled to get past his jab and got caught leaning in several times. Garcia could well be five rounds up, but that’s the first clear round since the first. I should note that the defence which I just denigrated looks a lot cleaner when he takes a step or two back, throwing his combinations at mid-range. Slipped a lot of Resendiz’ work from there.
- Garcia taking over now. Resendiz can’t get close with any consistency, and he has little for Garcia at mid and long range. He took a bit of a battering in the sixth.
- And in the seventh. He’s still got enough that Garcia can’t get slack about this, but Resendiz’ corner could start to think about stopping this, their man is taking a beating for little success in return.
- The end comes in the eighth, as Garcia drops Resendiz with a huge right hook. He got up, but he wasn’t recovered and Garcia put him against the ropes and unloaded till the ref jumped in.
- Fantastic performance and a fantastic fight. Garcia certainly one to look out for in the middleweight division.
Prelims results and higlights
Heavyweight: Frank Sanchez RTD-4 Scott Alexander
- Frank Sanchez survived an early wobble to score a quick victory here.
- Scott Alexander wobbled him big time in the first round, but 31-year-old Cuban heavyweight Sanchez dropped Alexander in the second, and dominated from then on, leading to Alexander’s corner to pull him out after the fourth round.
Middleweight: Terrell Gausha MD-8 KeAndre Leatherwood 78-74, 78-74, 76-76
Light-heavyweight: Oleksandr Gvozdyk KO-2 Isaac Rodrigues
- Oleksanr Gvozdyk was in no mood to waste time, scoring the KO stoppage in the second round.
- The 36-year-old had been out of boxing for four years after his brutal loss at the hands of Artur Beterbiev in 2019, but he returned earlier this year and scored his third victory since Febuary tonight.
Super-lightweight: Gabriel Valenzuela KO-6 Yeis Gabriel Solano
Super-featherweight: Curmel Moton vs Ezequiel Flores
Super-featherweight: Justin Viloria vs Angel Barrera
Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo live stream
Fite TV will have a live stream of the PPV event, which you can watch here or on the embed below:
There will also be a free live stream of the undercard prelims below:
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