Eddy Reynoso Wanted Canelo Alvarez to Knock Out Callum Smith in Round 12

Canelo Alvarez proved his mettle against the lanky Callum Smith. Not only did Alvarez win this fight but dominated the Britisher throughout those 12-rounds. It was Canelo’s most complete career performance. But Canelo’s team had some unique plans for this fight. They didn’t want this battle to go for a 12-round rally but were instead rooting for a finish.

TUDN interviewed Saul Alvarez’s trainer and promoter Eddy Reynoso on this cracking contest and what was the approach initially adopted by the team.

He said, “With Saul, there was a detail when he fought with Smith… in the third round he started to feel comfortable and he started wanting to play around with his hands down and walking forward.” 

Reynoso felt that once Alvarez figured out Smith’s style in the initial rounds, he got comfortable and put his guard down, inviting Smith to move forward and punch. As soon as round 3 had concluded, Reynoso advised Canelo not to put his hands down or underestimate the Brit, as he possessed enough power to knock the Mexican boxer out cold.

“In the final round, I rarely send my boxers out there to look for the knockout and when we are winning the fight so comfortably, but I sent him (to get the KO).

“I said, ‘You can knock him out, come out and throw everything, you have to try to knock him out,” he concluded.

Was this one of Canelo Alvarez’s best performances?

Smith had the advantage ahead of Canelo in terms of height and reach, but the Mexican boxer employed his vast experience and fighting IQ in the squared circle that night. Though Alvarez couldn’t knock out ‘Mundo’, he made sure that he didn’t win a single second of the fight. He walked down Smith in all the 12-rounds and Smith was visibly uncomfortable against him.

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Needless to say, the Mexican boxer laid out his strategy just as planned and gave Callum Smith a beating of his life. Canelo bagged a comfortable win, cementing himself as the 168-pound king.

On a scale of 1-10, how much will you rate Canelo’s performance against Smith?