By Rick Reeno

Staples Center, Los Angeles - WBC junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (38-0-1, 28KOs) stopped Alfonso Gomez (23-5-2, 12KOs) in the sixth round to retain his title.

A slow pace in the first round. Alvaerz using his jab to set up punches to the head and body. A slow start by Alvarez, but he used a hard jab in the final ten seconds to score a flash knockdown as Gomez walked in. A better pace in the second. Every time Gomez landed, Alvarez would fire back with a series of punches. A lot of pressure applied in the third round by Gomez, who was outworking and outlanding Alvarez.

Alvaerz decided to trade with Gomez in the fourth round, but Gomez was more active and doing the better work. Alvarez continued to trade shots in the final twenty seconds. In the fifth, Gomez was using his jab to push Alvarez back and then throwing quick flurries to confuse the champion. Alvarez landed a few hard combinations in the final minute.

A jabbing contest for the first minute of the sixth. Near the end of the round, Alvarez caught Gomez with a counter, which appeared to land on the temple, and that stunned him. Alvarez pinned him against the ropes and unleashed a series of hard shots. While Gomez was hurt, he was blocking some of the shots, but the referee jumped in to stop the fight a little early.