Boxing: Canelo Tops Trout in Texas to Unify Super Welterweight Belts

Photo credit Kendrick Johnson

When a raucous crowd of 40,000 people are doing the wave all the way around the stadium 2 hours before a championship fight like they did this weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, you officially have an electric atmosphere, which was exactly the case when Saul “Canelo” Alvarez took on Austin “No Doubt” Trout.

With a star studded crowd that included everyone from Super Bowl Champ Ray Lewis, IBF Light middleweight champion Ishe Smith, and the Golden Boy himself Oscar De La Hoya, the electricity in the air could be felt from San Antonio to Dallas. Combine this with the show-stopping performance by Texas native Omar Figueroa, whose first round knockout on the front end of the main event, had the crowd in a frenzy and the stage set for major fireworks.

The pro Canelo crowd was 95 percent fully behind the Mexican born Alvarez. While there were a few but not many T-shirts in the crowd, which read something different: "Team Trout."

  "We really do have a team and everybody is a part of this," said Trout, wiping the sweat from his face after a tough fight. "It takes everybody to get me ready."

The two put on an entertaining contest which featured Trout constantly throwing a busy jab to try to confuse Canelo, which it didn’t. While Canelo Alvarez would impose a much slicker than expected style that allowed him to fight in bursts and impose his will at times, allowing him to shimmy a little bit in the middle of the 9^th round.

The fighters stood toe-to-toe for much of the bout, both unwilling to tie up the other at the expense of possible power punches. Referee Laurence Cole only broke up the fighters once, doing so midway through the first round. The fight was close and entertaining, with Canelo's power contrasting with Trout's endless stream of jabs and bodywork. After dropping Trout with a beautiful straight right in the seventh, the hometown hero walked away with the decision.

Alvarez received winning scores of 115-112, 116-111, and 118-109 to beat Trout while gaining the WBA and The Ring Junior Middleweight titles.

"I'll take the loss like a man," Trout said. "The better man won tonight. He was better than me. I have no excuses."

For Alvarez, the fight was personal as his main focus for the fight was to avenge the loss of his older brother Rigoberto, who lost the WBA title to Trout in February 2011 in the family's hometown of Guadalajara. Alvarez returned the belt to his brother, who was in the ring when the result was announced. "This is for my brother," Alvarez said.

Neither man needs to hang their head with their performance including the loser “No Doubt” Trout who vowed to come back stronger, quicker, and better the next time we see him in the ring. For the winner Canelo, there was one name coming out his mouth in English despite his limited use of the language “Mayweather.”

If “Money” Mayweather does what’s expected on May 4^th in Vegas, the boxing universe could be right back here in Texas on Mexican Independence Day Weekend in September for a “Money” Mayweather vs. “Canelo” Alvarez showdown

Kendrick Johnson is an independent sports television, radio, and print journalist. He can be reached at kendrick_e_johnson@yahoo.com or on Twitter.