Canelo Álvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo, billed as Toe to Toe, was a professional boxing match contested on March 8, 2014, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, shown on Showtime PPV.

Background

On 9 January 2014, Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer confirmed a deal had been made for a fight between Álvarez and Alfredo Angulo to take place on 8 March, on Showtime PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In March, ESPN reported the fight would take place at a catchweight of 155 lbs, due to Álvarez not being able to make the light middleweight limit of 154 lbs. For the PPV fight, Álvarez agreed to pay $100,000 of his minimum $1.25 million purse to Angulo, which would raise his purse $850,000. Also in the negotiations, Álvarez agreed to weigh no more than 168 lbs on fight night. This was Álvarez's first of five fights which took place at the 155-pound catchweight. On fight night, Álvarez weighed 174 lbs on Showtime's scale and Angulo weighed 170 lbs.

The fight

In front of 14,610 at the MGM, Álvarez came out strong, throwing combinations. In a fairly lopsided beating, Álvarez scored a tenth-round stoppage over Angulo punctuated by a lead left uppercut. The end of the fight began in round six, when Angulo's left eye started swelling. When the referee waived the fight off, the crowd was displeased and booed. At the time of stoppage, two judges had it 89–82 and the third judge had it 88–83, all in favor of Álvarez.

Aftermath

Angulo stated post-fight how he was unhappy with the stoppage, "I told Tony he did the wrong job tonight. The referee tells us to take care of ourselves at all times. I can take care of myself. My plan was to work harder in the final four or three rounds. I had good preparation for this fight." His trainer Virgil Hunter was also unhappy with referee Tony Weeks, "I'm very upset. I told the referee and the doctor that if Canelo put two or three shots together that I would stop the fight. He landed one punch. Everyone knows Alfredo was coming on strong, everyone knows that."

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

Weight classvs.TypeRoundTimeNotes
MiddleweightMexico Canelo Álvarezdef.Mexico Alfredo AnguloTKO10/121:00
Super bantamweightMexico Léo Santa Cruzdef.Mexico Cristian MijaresUD12Note 1
LightweightVenezuela Jorge Linaresdef.Japan Nihito ArakawaUD10Note 2
LightweightMexico Sergio Thompsondef.Mexico Ricardo ÁlvarezUD10Note 3
Preliminary bouts
Super featherweightUnited States Jerry Belmontesdef.Australia Will TomlinsonUD10
Super featherweightMexico Francisco Vargasdef.Puerto Rico Abner CottoUD10
Super bantamweightUnited States Joseph Diazdef.Puerto Rico Jovany FuentesTKO5/82:59
Light WelterweightUnited States Keandre Gibsondef.Mexico Antonio WongTKO4/61:54
CruiserweightAustralia Steve Lovettdef.Mexico Francisco MolinaKO2/41:13

^Note 1 For WBC Super Bantamweight title ^Note 2 WBC Lightweight title eliminator ^Note 3 WBC International lightweight title

Broadcasting

CountryBroadcaster
United StatesShowtime
Preceded byvs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.Canelo Álvarez's bouts 8 March 2014Succeeded byvs. Erislandy Lara
Preceded byvs. Erislandy LaraAlfredo Angulo's bouts 8 March 2014Succeeded byvs. James de la Rosa