Canelo Alvarez knocks out Sergey Kovalev to capture WBO light heavyweight title

Canelo Alvarez knocked out Sergey Kovalev on Saturday night in the 11th round of their fight in Las Vegas and became the new WBO light heavyweight champion.

It was the fourth division world title won by Alvarez, who showed crushing power while moving up two weight classes to the 175-pound division.

Kovalev kept things close with a steady diet of jabs that kept Alvarez at bay, and the pro-Alvarez crowd began to grow restless at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But that ended decisively in the 11th round.

Alvarez caught Kovalev with a right to the head and moments later followed up with a left hook and another right. The final punch dropped Kovalev to the canvass — and almost through the ropes — with the referee waving off the fight at 2:15 of the 11th round.

“Canelo is a great champion,’’ Kovalev said after the fight.

The judges had the bout scored 96-94, 96-94 and 95-95 in Alvarez’s favor before he scored the knockout.

“The plan overall was patience,’’ he said. “That was basically it, to have patience. …We stuck to our game plan, basically. It was delayed a little bit, but overall it was successful.

“We knew it was coming. Inevitably it would come.’’

Alvarez, 29, improved to 53-1-2 with 36 knockouts and Kovalev, 36, fell to 34-4-1 with 29 knockouts.

After the right, Alvarez was non-committal about plans for his next fight, including the possibility of a third fight with Gennady Golovkin. The two fought to a draw in 2017 and Alvarez won the rematch by majority decision in 2018.

“It’s really not a challenge for me,’’ he said, then moments later added, “But it if represents business, then why not?’’

Paste BN Sports' Josh Peter provided his round-by-round breakdown of the fight:

Round 1: Sergey firing jabs at the outset. Boxers have settled at center of the ring. Jab, jab, jab from Sergey. Not much from Canleo. Sergey clearly has a significant edge with the reach. Canelo misses with a hook but shows his power. Sergey’s reaching keeping Canelo at bay for now. Sergey now throwing combos. Canelo showing no urgency here early. Body shot from Canelo.  

Peter's score: Sergey 10, Canelo 9.

Round 2: More jabs from Sergey. Canelo still hasn’t figured out how to attack the taller man, but unleashing left hooks now. Raw power impressive — if Canelo can connect. Sergey connects with a combination. Big left from Canelo, and another miss. Canelo lands a big body punch. And then to the head. Sergey lands lots, but not with much force. Canelo more active, landing.

Sergey 20, Canelo 18. 

Round 3: Guess what? More jabs from Sergey. Get used to it, Canelo. Canelo counters with a strong right. But Sergey throwing more punches and showing impressive boxing skills. Credit Sergey for the volume of punches, but not much power there. Sergey content firing away as Canelo still looks for an opportunity to unload. And the wait continues.

Sergey 30, Canelo 27.

Round 4: Canelo lands a left. Might be ready to break through those jabs. Sergey now throws rights to complement that lefthanded jab. Hearing faint boos. Fans getting impatient with Canelo? He’s clearly suffering no punishment from the steady jabs of Sergey. But those punches are scoring. Big body shot from Canelo. Feeling generous here with the scorecard.  

Sergey 39, Canelo 37.

Round 5: Sergey following his solid game plan — more jabs and using his reach to neutralize Canelo. But Canelo pushing forward. Gotta think he’ll be unleashing punches sometime soon. Right? Canelo pushing forward through Sergey’s jabs. Stalking. Now throwing. Not landing much. Big left, doesn’t quite land. But he’s landed some body punches. 

Sergey 49, Canelo 46.

Round 6: Canelo landing body punches. Looks more determined to initiate action. Sergey still throwing lots, but with featherweight power. Canelo stalking. But Sergey still effective with the jabs. Hooks starting to fly from Canelo, and a couple landing on Sergey’s body. Those hurt.

Sergey 58, Canelo 56.

Round 7: Sergey punching like he’s getting paid by the jab. Jab, jab, jab again. Canelo looks fresh but starting to wonder when his barrage of punches will come. Canelo throwing hard lefts again, but nothing too punishing. Nothing landing flush. But clearly the aggressor, Canelo.  

Sergey 67, Canelo 66.

Round 8: Sergey could be gambling with this style, after all. Firing lots of jabs, but wonder how much are scoring. And he doesn’t seem willing to open up for a serious exchange with Canelo. That said, Canelo still unable to consistently get to Sergey. Now Sergey stalking. Fans booing faintly. Not happy with Canelo or the lack of action in general.

Sergey 77, Canelo 75.

Round 9: Canelo itching to land the big punch. Canelo looks a little frustrated. Here comes a little exchange. Sergey opening up as the two throw punches. Body punch from Canelo lands. Canelo and Sergey exchange punches to face. Getting interesting. But Sergey returns to his foundation — the jab.

Sergey 86, Canelo 85.

Round 10: Is it too late to bring out GGG? Thought so. More jabs from Sergey. Canelo staying low and trying to find room to get close to Sergey. Big body shots from Canelo. Sergey taking the punches, but can’t match Canelo’s power or, at this point, his activity. Again, Sergey throwing punches that put the “light’’ into light heavyweight.

Canelo 95, Sergey 95.

Round 11: Canelo looks determined to score with big punches again. But that Sergey jab continues to thwart him — at least temporarily. Canelo lands a strong body shot. Sergey definitely aware and probably afraid of the power. And so he’s jabbing again. Canelo lands the right! Down and out, Sergey.

Canelo is your new WBO light heavyweight champ!