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Watch Canelo Alvarez Rip Callum Smith’s Bicep With Sharp Hooks in Slow-Motion

Published 11/05/2021, 7:09 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

After bagging the WBO light heavyweight title by knocking out Sergey Kovalev in 2019, Saul Canelo Alvarez moved back down in weight to super-middle. With the WBA title already under his belt, he moved on to challenge contender Callum Smith for the vacant WBC super-middleweight belt.

Coming into this fight, even though Callum Smith was an underdog, he’s still a very competitive super-middleweight contender. However, in December 2020, Canelo did exactly what he does best – be the best.

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After 12 rounds of action against the Liverpool native, Canelo Alvarez showed  the world why he deserves a spot at the top of p4p ladder. Round after round, the Mexican champion broke his opponent down and gave Smith the first blemish on his record. Alvarez brought in a perfect blend between superior skills and heavy power that night and proved himself a formidable super-middleweight contender.

What many failed to pick up on during the fight was that Canelo managed to snatch away Callum Smith’s sharpest tool – his check hook. This is how the champion literally tore through smith that night-

Callum Smith believes Canelo played a smart game

After Callum Smith‘s reign as WBA (Super) and Ring Magazine 168lb champion came to an end in December 2020, some fans were quick to spot a gruesome injury on Smith’s left arm.

Throughout 12 rounds, Canelo Alvarez landed sharp hooks on one particular spot – his tricep region. The champion from Mexico knew right from the get-go that this approach would work; after landing heavy hooks to the left tricep, he continued to double down and as soon as he knew that it had begun hurting him, Alvarez capitalized right away.

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A new slow-motion clip now shows how Canelo actually broke his opponent down. At one point, he can even be seen pointing out Smith’s left arm injury to him during the fight.

It was intentional. I knew from the first round that. I said to Joe in round one, ‘He’s aiming for my arm.’ Every right hook he was throwing, he was going for my arm. And then I think I said to Joe in round four or something, ‘My arm is f***ed’,said Smith.

It kind of took away my catch left hook, which is my best shot. And whether that was a plan on their behalf, it worked a treat.

In the 12th round, he looked at the swelling and laughed and asked, ‘Is it sore?’ It’s experience on his behalf. It completely tools away probably my best shot,” he added.

Canelo vs Smith: Fight Stats

The official CompuBox fight statstics clearly indicate that Canelo outright outclasses his opponent. Callum Smith was not more active than Alvarez in any round in terms of jabs and power punches landed. All in all, the Mexican champ connected way more than the Liverpool native.

Per these final punch stats, Smith quite literally landed less than half of what Canelo landed (jabs/ power punches/ total punches).

How did the judges score this fight?

Alvarez dominated Callum Smith from start to finish to win by unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 117-111) to capture the WBA (Super), The Ring, and WBC super middleweight titles in San Antonio, Texas.

USA Today via Reuters

This marked Callum Smith’s first and only defeat in 28 fights.

Was this fight a big pay-per-view event?

For some reason, the official pay-per-view buys were never released. Usually, boxing promoters are quick to release PPV numbers if they’ve done well; however, the fact that the numbers for Canelo-Smith have never been revealed just goes to indicate poor performance.

Why do you think this happened?

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How much did Smith earn in comparison to Canelo?

Coming into this fight, Canelo Alvarez was guaranteed a purse of at least $20 million for fighting Callum Smith. However, it is unclear whether DAZN’s decision to offer Canelo vs. Smith on traditional pay-per-view boosted the payouts for both fighters.

USA Today via Reuters

On the other hand, Callum Smith’s earnings reportedly came in between $8 million and $10 million. Pay-per-view buys might have impacted Smith’s earnings as well.

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Written by:

Sanjit Misra

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Sanjit Misra is a boxing author at EssentiallySports. Sanjit fused his passion for writing with his love for jabs, hooks, and uppercuts and entered the realm of boxing journalism. The elegance, the sweet science, and the finesse of hand-to-hand combat was what initially drew him into the world of boxing.
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