Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan Results, Round-by-Round Scoring & Play-by-Play

Undercard Results

Former middleweight world champion David Lemieux tore into Glen Tapia and never relented until the fight was over in the fourth. After digging furious shots to the head and body from the opening bell, the Canadian crashed through with a sensational left hook-right hook combo to the noggin, flooring Tapia (23-3, 15 KOs) face first into the bottom rope. The New Jersey fighter climbed back to his feet but as soon as referee Russell Mora was about to let the young contender continue, his cornerman stepped onto the ring apron and through in the proverbial towel. Mora obliged and waived it off, officially ending the one-sided shellacking just 56 seconds into the fourth. Lemieux (35-3, 32 KOs) said afterward that he wants to fight the top guys at 160, somewhat singling out the winner of Canelo-Khan later tonight.

Mauricio Herrera had been robbed a few times of victory throughout his underrated career, but Saturday night in Las Vegas was not one of those times. Unbeaten contender Frankie Gomez was too fast and too accurate for the older Riverside fighter to handle and “The Pitbull” dominated him for every minute of every round. Herrera was never on the verge of being knocked out in the welterweight scrum, but he was a step or two behind his foe from the start and was never able to get a rhythm going whatsoever. In the end, Gomez, from East Los Angeles, was awarded a lopsided unanimous decision via tallies of 100-9 on all three scorecards, allowing him to rise to 21-0 with 13 KOs. Herrera fell to 22-6 with 7 KOs.

After muscling his younger foe around the ring in the opening frame, Brooklyn’s Curtis Stevens took Patrick Teixeira out with one punch in the second. Teixeira was game throughout but his chin couldn’t withstand the sheer brutality of Stevens’ power. After Teixeira landed a left uppercut from a little too far outside, Stevens delivered a ferocious overhand right that exploded on the Brazilian’s jaw, sending him spiraling to the canvas. He was able to beat the count but referee Tony Weeks didn’t like the way he was responding to his questions and intelligently waived the battle off. The official time of the TKO came just 64 ticks into the second frame, allowing Stevens to soar to 28-5 with 21 knockouts. Teixeira dipped to 26-1 with 22 KOs.

Junior featherweight prospect was supposed to be one of Diego de la Hoya’s toughest tests to date. As it turned out, the Mexicali fighter passed the exam with flying colors as he stopped his foe in the seventh. De la Hoya scored a slick knockout of the Californian in the second when he countered a left-right with a straight right to the jaw and then systematically broke him down until the end. Finally, with his face busted up and taking too many clean punches, referee Jay Nady had no choice but to step in and waive it off at 1:59 of the seventh, saving Santomauro any further punishment. The win allowed de la Hoya to improve to 15-0 with his ninth pro stoppage; Santomauro fell to 13-1 (1).

Though many expected Ireland’s Jason Quigley to knock out fellow middleweight James De La Rosa, the young prospect was still as dominant as ever, pitching a shutout on the cards over 10 rounds. Quigley picked the Texan apart from the start and landed several hard punches to the head and body but De La Rosa (23-4, 13 KOs) was as resilient as ever and stayed upright throughout the duel. In the end, all three ringside officials favored Quigley (11-0, 9 KOs) by the margin of 100-90.

Young lightweight prospect Lamont Roach Jr. out-boxed Jose Arturo Esquivel over eight rounds, winning a hard-fought but well-deserved unanimous decision. The Washington DC fighter was much fatser and more accurate with his punches throughout and was given the nod thanks to scores of 79-72 on all three official cards. The win bolsters Roach’s pro ledger to 11-0 with 4 KOs while Esquivel, from Mexico, falls to 9-5 with 2 KOs.

Junior middleweight prospect Rashidi Ellis kept his perfect record intact as he dominated tough Mexican veteran Marco Antonio Lopez for eight rounds, winning a lopsided unanimous decision. The Bostonian used his far superior hand speed to lead and counter his foe from the start and coasted to a unanimous decision win via tallies of 80-72 on all three official scorecards. Ellis improved to 15-0 (11) with the boxing clinic; Lopez dipped to 24-9 with 15 KOs.

WBC Middleweight Title Fight:
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Amir Khan

Round 1

Kenny Bayless is the referee for this WBC middleweight title fight that is being fought at a 155-pound catchweight. Khan tosses out a few jabs early to get things going but they fall short. A hard right cross to the head snaps Canelo’s head back, but he seems to have taken it well. A nice right to the ribs by the Mexican but Khan comes right back with a flurry of jabs and right to the head. Canelo misses with a monstrous right hook but Khan is out of position to counter him. Amir walks into a short left hook just as his left misses but he’s not hurt. A Canelo left hook is blocked with a minute left. Khan opens up with a three-punch flurry to the noggin but Saul blocks them all. Khan’s speed is definitely a factor at this juncture.

Sherdog Scores

Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Gary Randall scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Mike Fridley scores the round: 10-9 Khan

Round 2

Canelo storms out of his corner but misses with a sweeping left-right upstairs. A huge left hook misses by the Mexican again and he stumbles. Khan counters him with a quick shot to the puss but there’s nothing behind it. Canelo is aggressive, walking after his elusive foe and digs to the body. They miss a wild exchange in the center of the ring before settling in with jabs. Khan pops him with a right-left up top but Saul walks right through it. Khan lobs out four jabs to the head and body. With 10 seconds left, Canelo swallows a slick left-right, giving the Brit the round.

Sherdog Scores

Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Gary Randall scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Mike Fridley scores the round: 10-9 Khan

Round 3

Khan remains very mobile, forcing Canelo to lunge in and miss his shots eary. Khan eats a short left, but he takes it well. A hard left-right follows a pair of jabs from Khan, who then lands a sweeping left hook to the head. Canelo is not getting hurt by the shots but the speed is giving him issues. Khan remains just out of reach of another wicked left hook from the Mexican. A multi-punch flurry to the face for Khan again, but Canelo continues to walk through the attacks. A hard right to the body for Canelo, but he’s quickly countered upstairs by a laser of a right and then a short left.

Sherdog Scores

Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Gary Randall scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Mike Fridley scores the round: 10-9 Khan

Round 4

A nice tattoo of a right to the face by the Brit catches Canelo off-guard and he clinches. In the grip, he slams a left to the ribs, making Khan back off. Canelo eats another right but he fires right back with a thud of a right to the gut. A triple jab snaps the Mexican’s head back at the midway point. Canelo misses a sloppy right and is cracked by a beautiful overhand left. Again, he seems to be not bothered by it. Khan just misses a massive right-left to the head as Canelo turns with both shots. There is some swelling around Canelo’s right eye late in the round. Saul slams another right to the body late but it’s another Amir round. 10-9 Khan

Sherdog Scores

Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Gary Randall scores the round: 10-9 Khan
Mike Fridley scores the round: 10-9 Khan

Round 5

A nice short left to the head early from Canelo but Khan shakes it off. Amir is moving exceptionally well again, making Canelo chase after him. Canelo lands a nice right to the body but he’s quickly countered by a left up top. Khan pops him with a few jabs after taking a shot to the ribs a minute in. Canelo catches him with a loopy right but Khan partially blocks it against the ropes. Khan lands a jab and then ducks under a left hook, but he’s out of position to nail him in return. A three-punch combo downstairs by the Mexican but he misses his shots during an exchange at the bell. Very close round.

Sherdog Scores

Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Canelo
Gary Randall scores the round: 10-9 Canelo
Mike Fridley scores the round: 10-9 Canelo

Round 6

They take turns missing meager jabs early before Khan pops him with an errant left hook to the ear. Canelo returns the fire with a right to the hip. A nice jab Khan but Canelo storms back with a hard left hook to the face. Khan backs off and seems a little dazed, looking to recover. Khan flick out a series of jabs but Saul rips two shots to the belly. Now it’s Khan who is swallowing jabs. Canelo has seized control of the bout. Khan comes in with a lazy left jab but Canelo detonates bomb of an overhand right and Khan is out cold on his way down. His head bounces off the canvas and Bayless doesn’t even bother to count. An absolutely brutal knockout, which could be the best of the entire year.

The Official Result

Canelo Alvarez def. Amir Khan via Knockout at 2:37 of round 6 to retain his WBC middleweight title.