Alvarez sleepwalks through Chavez, Golovkin next

LOS ANGELES, California: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez cruised to a unanimous decision over Julio Chavez Jr. in a 12-round mismatch Saturday then announced in the ring that his next fight would be against Gennady Golovkin.

After crushing Chavez, the World Boxing Organization light middleweight champ said he is set to face middleweight champ Golovkin on September 16.

“Golovkin, you are next, my friend. Where are you? It’s on,” Alvarez said before bringing Golovkin into the T-Mobile Arena ring with him.

Golovkin didn’t have to travel far to make the announcement as he watched Alvarez’s fight from ringside in Las Vegas.

“Congratulations,” he told Alvarez. “I feel excited to be part of this big drama show.”

With his win over Chavez, Alvarez claimed Mexican bragging rights on Cinco de Mayo weekend. “I showed I can move, box and do all those things against a fighter who was bigger,” Alvarez said. “He wouldn’t throw punches.”

The 26-year-old Alvarez used Chavez for target practice, landing jabs, hooks and combinations at will as he won every round of the 164-pound (75 kg) fight on all three judges’ scorecards.

Chavez, who has a four inch (10 cm) height advantage, was booed during and after the fight by the Vegas crowd.

Alvarez treated the lopsided bout as if it were a sparring session, even standing between rounds for the entire fight.

“I never sit down during sparring and it is not necessary there and it wasn’t necessary here. I told my corner I wouldn’t sit down until it was necessary,” Alvarez said. He landed 228 punches to just 71 for Chavez and an incredible 31 percent of his jabs connected as he had his way with former champion Chavez, who has largely made his career off the name of his famous boxing champion father Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

Alvarez improved to 49-1-1 with his only loss coming against Floyd Mayweather in 2013.

There was no title on the line Saturday as Alvarez moved up in weight to fight the much bigger Chavez at a catchweight of 164lbs.

Alvarez was the heavy favorite going into the fight and it didn’t take long to see why. Chavez had no answer for the punches from Alvarez which often came in combinations of three, four and sometimes even six.