Canelo Alvarez vs Daniel Jacobs fight result: Saul Alvarez wins by unanimous decision to unify middleweight division
Follow the latest from the middleweight unification fight in Las Vegas
Follow the latest updates live from the middleweight super-fight between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs.
The middleweight unification bout at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena did not fail to live up to expectations as Canelo and Jacobs put their IBF, WBC and WBA titles on the line in a bout that had been billed as a fight of the year contender.
With a partisan Mexican crowd behind him, Canelo made a quick start out of the blocks to give his supporters plenty to cheer for on Cinco de Mayo, gaining an early advantage against a struggling Jacobs.
But the 32-year-old American grew into the fight as it wore on, benefitting from a clever switch to southpaw to expose a weakness that has already been revealed against Canelo in the past.
With WBO middleweight champion Demetrious Andrade and rival Gennady Golovkin both watching at ringside, Canelo and Jacobs put on a show of big-power punching none more so than when Jacobs rocked Canelo with a fierce left to the head that shook the 51-1-2 boxer. But true to form, the champion got straight back to it and took the fight to Jacobs, with both unleashing everything they had in the closing stages.
As the judges prepared their final scorecards, Canelo celebrated in front of his fans and his actions were soon justified as the scorecards came back in at 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 to seal a deserving and fair victory. Re-live the live updates below.
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Possibly the most exaggerated rendition of Star Spangled Banner rings out inside the T-Mobile Arena, before announcing the arrival of the IBF middleweight world champion, Daniel Jacobs.
The 'Miracle Man' has overcome much bigger challenges than what he faces tonight, but as the bookies' underdog, can he turn the tables on its head once again?
Jacobs' drawn-out entrance is greeted with chants of "Canelo! Canelo! Canelo!" from the heavy Mexican contingent inside the Arena. In suitable fashion, his music takes an age to drop - a suitable wait in light of what we had to endure at the start of the night - but finally Miracle Man is making his way to the ring with a small smile on his face.
The lights go out for a second time as Canelo's face appears on the big screen. The Mexican hero looks to be in the shape of his life as he looks to continue his quest to win all four middleweight titles, and Jacobs is the next step on that journey that he set out to achieve after defeating Gennady Golovkin in that epic double-header.
A huge cheer goes up for Alvarez upon his arrival, the true sign the Cinco de Mayo has arrived. Will it be celebrations tonight for the Mexican and his fans, or will the fireworks be put out for only the second time in his incredible 55-fight career.
Amazingly, that's an average of a fight every six months if he started boxing from the day he was born...
With two boxing greats inside the ring, who better to introduce them than the legend that is Michael Buffer? Which means you know what comes next...
"Let's get ready to rumbleeeeeee!"
The noise for Canelo is incredibly loud, almost matched by the boos for Jacobs. This is going to be tasty. Here we go...
Round 1: Alvarez immediately takes the centre of the ring, with Jacobs circling in close range clockwise around the rind. As promised, Jacobs has started off with an orthodox stance, but watch out for the switch to southpaw to try and cause problems for Canelo.
Canelo's first meaningful punch is to the body and he is marching down the taller Jacobs. Canelo does have his left knee wrapped but his moevement looks fine for now, and Jacobs starts to get a few shots in in the second half of the bout before switching to southpaw.
A cagey first round that could pretty much be split at halfway, but I'll give that one to Jacobs for his late furry at the end of the round.
Canelo 9-10 Jacobs
Round 2: Jacobs definitely has a tactic of trying to avoid Canelo's right hook by turning his back on the Mexican, but he's smart enough to work that out over the course of 12 rounds and you wonder how long that wull last. Canelo lands a nice left-jab and is starting to show his superior speed, forcing Jacobs to miss with a couple.
Canelo gets a good body shot into the ribcage and he's in the ascendancy in the second, before Jacobs fights back and lands on Canelo with a left hook that just sharpens the Mexican up. However, it's not enough to snatch the round and that's Canelo levelling it up for me.
The pair both start swinging right on the bell, but there's no afters there and back they go to the corners.
Canelo 19-19 Jacobs
Round 3: Jacobs starts the round southpaw and wears a big one to the head early on as he gets caught trying to get in and out. Canelo backs Jacobs onto the ropes, before unleashing, and for the first time Jacobs looks in difficulty.
Once again as the round wears on, Jacobs tries to up the pace on his part in an effort to steal the round. Two good body shots from the American land, but there's also an awful ot missing and Canelo probably did enough to hold onto that.
Canelo 29-28 Jacobs
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