Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez proves he’s real deal with win over Austin Trout

The hype surrounding light middleweight wunderkind Saul “Canelo” Álvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO), 22, cannot solely be attributed to the media any longer.

Álvarez, of Guadalajara, Mexico, passed his first professional test convincingly Saturday night, adding the 154-pound The Ring and WBA belts to his WBC title after defeating El Paso, Texas southpaw Austin “No Doubt” Trout (26-1, 14 KO) at the Alamodome in San Antonio by unanimous decision (115-112, 118-109, 116-111). Trout, 27, who took the WBA title from Miguel Cotto last December, benefited from his superb boxing skills early on, but Álvarez’s straight rights began landing more frequently beyond round six.

One of those straight rights floored Trout 13 seconds into the seventh round, marking the first time anyone had ever sent the former WBA champ to the canvas. The fight, at least to casual viewers, one of the three judges and Showtime Championship Boxing’s commentators, remained competitive thereafter.

Trout’s offense, though, was nullified to a great extent by Álvarez’s surprisingly quick head movement, at times resulting in Trout failing to land a single punch when using combinations. Trout reportedly commented afterward that he had prepared to face a much different fighter than the one he encountered Saturday, presumably something akin to a brawler.

An Álvarez-Floyd Mayweather, Jr. bout could take place later this year if Mayweather (43-0, 26 KO) gets past Robert Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO) on May 4.