Boxing
Canelo-Charlo, Hopkins-Taylor: Fights between undisputed champions revisited
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Terence Crawford and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez hold the distinction of being undisputed champions, adding further intrigue to their long-awaited bout next weekend .
After years of rumours, former super lightweight and welterweight king Crawford will jump up to super middleweight to face the man who has united the 168lbs division twice – Canelo.
We’ve seen world champions face each other in unification bouts before, but it is more unusual when two fighters that can claim to have completely conquered a division come face-to-face in the ring.
In anticipation of Canelo-Crawford, we have revisited previous clashes between undisputed champions.
- Read next | Canelo-Crawford: The two knockout artists ready to steal the show on Las Vegas undercard
Hopkins-Taylor 2
Undisputed fighters taking each other on inside the ring is quite a rare occurrence, especially in the four-belt era.
Victory over Bernard Hopkins had made Jermain Taylor an undisputed champion in the first place.
Having won bronze at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, there was hype behind Taylor heading into his professional career, but he was still viewed as an unproven prospect in comparison to Hopkins heading into the first bout between the two men. In fact, that was how the fight was advertised – a passing of the torch moment if Taylor won, or proof that Taylor was not ready if Hopkins was victorious.
Hopkins had been boxing professionally by this point for 16 years; he had reigned as the IBF’s middleweight champion for the best part of six years before adding the WBC strap. He quickly added the WBA version of the championship, before completing the set by taking fellow legend Oscar De La Hoya’s WBO title.
The older fighter was viewed as the favourite, but the fight was close throughout. Ultimately, Taylor took home a split decision , which whilst not controversial, could have easily been given the other way. Hopkins would unsuccessfully appeal the result; but the tightness of the bout paved the way for a rematch five months later. Still aggrieved about the decision, Hopkins activated the rematch clause in hopes of avenging his first loss in 12 years.
However, the second meeting only served to prove Taylor’s credentials further. In a lot of ways, the fight was similar to the first. Taylor started strongly, whilst Hopkins roared back late on. But whereas in the first fight Hopkins had found his second wind early enough to win back rounds, he had left it too late in the second bout.
Taylor would take a unanimous decision victory, with all three judges seeing it the same – 115-113.
Canelo-Charlo
Canelo Alvarez is no stranger to facing a fellow undisputed champion inside the ring. Of course, only one person can hold all the belts in a single division, which should preclude active undisputed champions from facing each other at a certain weight.
Jermell Charlo held all the belts at super welterweight when the opportunity to jump two weight classes to fight the face of boxing, Canelo, became available. Often when a fighter moves up a division, or even announces his intention to fight at a different weight, he is stripped of his titles. In order to allow history to be made, the WBO enabled Charlo to walk into the ring with their version of the super welterweight title, only to instantly strip it as the first bell rung to start the fight. As such, both champions entered the ring with undisputed status.
Getty Images
Only one would exit with it intact, and that ultimately proved to be the favourite, Canelo.
After a standoffish first round, Canelo would take control from the second, often putting Charlo up against the ropes. In the seventh Canelo managed to secure a knockdown on Charlo, who did well to return to his feet, but ultimately the tone for the rest of the fight had been set.
Canelo took a very wide unanimous decision victory, preserving his grasp on all four belts.
Taylor-Cameron 2
Katie Taylor has established herself as one of the biggest names in women’s boxing, earning undisputed status in two different weight classes, alongside an Olympic gold medal.
She faced Chantelle Cameron for the first time in 2023 when they were both undisputed champions – Taylor reigning unopposed at lightweight, Cameron queen of the super lightweight division.
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
In Taylor’s own backyard, Cameron produced a majority decision shock at the 3Arena, inflicting the first loss upon her Irish rival’s professional record. The first fight had been a stunner in its own right, a packed arena show producing an upset that silenced a raucous home crowd.
But the scale of the second bout, at the exact same arena, made the original meeting pale in comparison. Taylor’s ringwalk took an age but it was worth the wait.
Another close bout ended in Taylor’s favour, who flipped the majority decision result of the previous fight. However, it could have ended differently, with the hometown hero somehow staying on her feet amid a flurry of heavy punches from Cameron in the final round. If a knockdown had been scored, at least one of the judges’ cards would have gone in Cameron's favour, hinting at how closely matched the pair were.
Taylor-Serrano 2
Part of Taylor’s claim to being the face of women’s boxing is the fact that even in her advanced age, she has hunted the biggest names and toughest fights.
Amanda Serrano had already been defeated by the Irishwoman in 2022, missing out on taking Taylor’s four belts at lightweight. Instead, the Puerto Rican went away and completely unified the featherweight division, before stepping back up to challenge Taylor once again.
Having previously met at 135lbs, this time Serrano and Taylor fought at super lightweight, the latter into her second reign as undisputed champion. The original meeting, a split decision win for Taylor, had been named Event of the Year by The Ring, as well as winning Sports Illustrated’s Fight of the Year.
Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024
Taylor had been severely hurt in the fifth round of that encounter, but rallied strongly to preserve her titles. The rematch was just as close, with anticipation building for the bout after multiple postponements, first in 2023, and then in early 2024. Ultimately, Taylor would take a unanimous decision victory, with all three judges seeing it 95-94. Interestingly, despite all reaching the same conclusion on the scorecards, there was little consensus on the specific rounds each judge saw as being Taylor’s. Serrano had outlanded her opponent with 324 punches compared to 217 according to CompuBox.
Immediately after the result, Serrano and her camp fumed over the decision – labelling it ‘shady' - leading to a third, and final bout, between the two.
Taylor-Serrano 3
Now aged 39, Taylor opted to get back into the ring with Serrano for a third and final time. Returning to the scene of their first bout, Madison Square Garden, the all-out brawl of the second fight was eschewed in favour of a tactical thriller.
The output of both fighters dropped significantly – CompuBox recording 70 punches landed for both women – as Serrano’s change in approach did not pay off.
Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images
Despite the difference in the volume of punches thrown compared to previous bouts, the fight remained competitive throughout. But once again Tayor’s class shone through, the Irishwoman taking another majority decision win over her rival.
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