Las Vegas, US - Floyd Mayweather further strengthened his claim to greatness with a one-sided defeat of Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas.  In doing so the 36-year-old American secured the WBC and WBA light-middleweight titles and stretched his unbeaten professional run to 45 fights. He pockets upwards of $45m (£26.1m) for his efforts, a world record purse, and the fight is set to go down as the most lucrative pay-per-view show in history. The judges scored the fight 114-114, 116-112, 117-111. Mayweather was never threatened, making his Mexican foe look ordinary at times, and the announcement of CJ Ross's drawn card was met with stunned silence. "It is about skills," said five-weight world champion Mayweather. "I came out and showed my skills. "I just listened to my corner, listened to my dad [Floyd Sr, who is also his trainer]. My dad had a brilliant game-plan and I went out there and got the job done.'' "I didn't know how to get him - it's extremely simple,'' said Alvarez, who was previously unbeaten in 43 fights. Alvarez started in cautious fashion and was picked off by Mayweather when he tried to apply pressure "We tried to catch him but he's a great fighter, very intelligent. There was no solution for him."
With tickets at the MGM Grand changing hands for a reported $30,000 (£18,900), many expected the 23-year-old champion would at least push Mayweather close.
However, such was Mayweather's defensive mastery that it never caught fire as a contest, with Alvarez spending much of the fight either hitting arms or swinging at fresh air. The first round, which Mayweather won courtesy of little more than a couple of snappy jabs, was a sign of things to come, with the second panning out in much the same fashion. (FA)