Was Canelo vs. Smith a good fight?

I missed it. Anyone get the PPV?

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez ended Liam Smith's reign as world champion and then claimed Gennady Golovkin has already swerved facing him.

The 26-year-old Mexican (48-1-1-KO34) turned in one of the best performances of his career in front of a huge crowd in Arlington, Texas - felling Smith three times on his way to a ninth-round stoppage and the WBO super-welterweight title.

Alvarez received criticism for vacating his WBC middleweight crown in favour of returning to 154lbs but is adamant that the move was not a result of a desire to avoid the imperious Golovkin (36-0-KO33), who he says has already rejected one contract offer - a claim which was met with a withering response from the Kazakh on social media.

After downing Smith, 'Canelo' told HBO: "I fear nobody. I was born for this and even though many people may not like it, I'm the best fighter right now.

"About a month ago, we offered him [Golovkin] twice or three times as much to make the fight. I didn't want to say anything because I respect my rivals. He didn't want to accept.

"We're a team. I'm not going to blame my promoter or anyone else. I fear nobody. I'm 26 years old, I've fought the best in history and as I've already said, I'm the best at this moment in time."

However, Golovkin took to his Instagram account after the fight to dismiss those claims, saying: "I didn't expect that Smith punched so hard and that Canelo would talk that nonsense after the fight."

An early injury to his right hand did not deter Alvarez in claiming victory over Smith in a dominant display in Texas.

"I want to thank everybody that's here. I told you I was going to give you a big fight and bring you the championship and here it is," Alvarez added.

"I started controlling him [Smith] but in the second round I hurt my right hand so I had to use my left more often. I could only use my right hand sparingly.

"I felt he was very strong in the beginning so I felt I had to put that body work in and eventually he would dwindle. I did my job. Great fights come when matches fit well. I'm a counter-puncher so I enjoyed this fight very much."

A despondent Smith (23-1-1-KO13), who suffered the first defeat of his career, said: "He was too cute for me to be honest. No excuses but from my point of view, my timing was so off. I haven't done much sparring but he was too cute for me. I couldn't land anything clean and he was too good for me on the night.

"I was slow and had no timing to make him think twice. I thought I'd take over late but he was cute. I never landed to the body like I wanted to. He caught the body shots well and landed his own."

It was a fun fight. Canelo dominated but Smith had some moments, I enjoyed it. Phone Post 3.0


Good fight

"He was too cute for me." Phone Post 3.0

Real question is who bought this fight?? I didn't even know his opponent and you put it on PPV when I can watch it in a week on HBO for free. GGG vs Canelo I'll throw my money at. Phone Post 3.0

If he's a Mexican then I'm the second God damn coming. Phone Post 3.0

That body shot was nasty, Smith was in real pain, dude's a warrior. 

Outlaw'd by Lytle - If he's a Mexican then I'm the second God damn coming. Phone Post 3.0
Not all Mexicans look like your stereotypical Mexican landscapers. There are lineages in Mexico that never mixed with the indigenous population and look 100% European. Phone Post 3.0

..

The fight ending body shot was fucking savage. Phone Post 3.0

I enjoyed it. Phone Post 3.0

Rhys91 - Every single 1 of Smith's brothers are pro boxers, tough family. Phone Post 3.0
Stephen is champ

Liam was champ

Callum will be champ

And Paul should've been champ but got robbed in Germany vs Abe

Plus they're all quality guys Phone Post 3.0

I enjoyed the fight but there was only ever going to be one winner. Canelo is in a completely different league to Smith. Smith made more of a fight of it than I expected though to be fair to him. Phone Post 3.0

TheWelshmanWhoStares@GOATS - I enjoyed the fight but there was only ever going to be one winner. Canelo is in a completely different league to Smith. Smith made more of a fight of it than I expected though to be fair to him. Phone Post 3.0
The weight difference was just too. Liam isn't much of a puncher to begin with and then being at 20 pound weight disadvantage. He landed some but he couldn't hurt Canelo. He's never been down. He's shown a very good chin.

Liam is tough though.

We need Canelo vs GGG. It's ridiculous this is one of the worst ducks I've ever seen. He'd rather fucking die making 154 than fight Golovkin. He's doing more damage to himself in the sauna than Golovkin would give him.

At least Saunders admitted he would wait for Golovkin to get old before fighting him. Canelo would be seen in the public's eyes a lot better if he admitted that he's doing the same. Phone Post 3.0

Mark Hunts Pet Monkey -
Outlaw'd by Lytle - If he's a Mexican then I'm the second God damn coming. Phone Post 3.0
Not all Mexicans look like your stereotypical Mexican landscapers. There are lineages in Mexico that never mixed with the indigenous population and look 100% European. Phone Post 3.0

Typical ignorant bigot, if you keep your thoughts to yourself others might never know you're a momo.

It was a fun fight to watch but the out come was never in any kind of doubt. Canelo outclassed Liam but Liam didn't shy away from the challenge. Phone Post 3.0

Canelo is recoginized as Boxings biggest superstar now. Weird, I haven't heard one person mentiom fight, and I live in Southern California and work around a lot of Mexicans. To be fair, I only heard a few people mention GGG. They were all Mexican and all think Canelo is ducking him.

StruggleSnuggles - It was a fun fight to watch but the out come was never in any kind of doubt. Canelo outclassed Liam but Liam didn't shy away from the challenge. Phone Post 3.0
He's definitely tough as nails. I think Cullum is the best of the bunch though. He's a big guy for 68 with a brutal body assault. He's a future champion. Phone Post 3.0