Canelo Álvarez defeated Jacobs in the fight for the unification of middleweights

Daniel Jacobs was taller. Canelo Álvarez was better, but not much.
Álvarez added another belt to his Saturday night collection, after defeating Daniel Jacobs in 12 rounds by unanimous decision in his middleweight unification match.

AP

Two referees gave 115-113 cards, while the third gave 116-112. Associated Press gave a score of 115-113 in favor of the Mexican.

"That's what we thought," Álvarez said later. "We just did our job."

Jacobs, who lost a million dollars in his bag for overweight in the morning of the fight, was clearly bigger than Álvarez and may have delivered the most powerful punch of the night in the ninth when 39, he's connected to the left.

But Alvarez was quick and nimble and kept Jacobs out of balance by a tight decision in the same place where he fought to tie first and win at least in another fight, with Gennady Golvkin.

"I thought I did enough to win," said Jacobs.

But the judges did not say the same thing, largely because the Mexican was the most active at the beginning of the fight and the most aggressive of the two. Álvarez opened an advantage in the first half of the fight and then counterattacked to keep the cards tight. Two of the three judges recognized him the 12th round victory.

AP

Álvarez, the favorite by 5-1, has been tested against a bigger boxer, but he has done enough to win in a fight without a knockout or serious foul. None seemed to have been seriously injured, even though Jacobs had received some of the biggest punches of the last laps.

That included the left-handed shot in the ninth, which seemed to stun Alvarez even for a moment.

"It was a hard blow, but I went around and they asked me the question and I said it was not that bad," said Álvarez. "I continued the fight, what do you want?"

Redvared Alvarez earned $ 35 million for playing his titles against Jacobs, a Brooklyn fighter who won the middle category crown.

He also received another million dollars from the Jacobs Stock Exchange when the American gave too much weight on the day of the fight.

Jacobs had reached the limit of 160 pounds during Friday's official weigh-in. But both had agreed in their contract not to exceed 170 pounds Saturday morning and Jacobs gave a weight of 173.6 kg.

AP

From the first ring, Álvarez attacked Jacobs, while his rival was content to try to fight from outside to the back most of the time.

None dealt with large and continuous bursts, although Álvarez showed more speed in his shots and was more consistent.
Jacobs changed his style towards the middle of the fight and tried to find a rhythm. But

Alvarez did not stop moving his head and made Jacobs fail, and often found him on the counter.

The two men exchanged punches several times and Jacobs had his most powerful punch in the ninth, a left punch that drew Alvarez's attention.