Saul “Canelo” Alvarez rocked Billy Joe Saunders on Saturday to unite three Super Middleweight titles in eight rounds to watch an indoor boxing competition in front of the largest American crowd in history.
Four-weight World Champion Alvarez retained his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Federation titles and seized Saunders’ World Boxing Organization belt when the previously undefeated Briton retired on his stool after defeating him in the eighth round.
Sounders Corner called a halt in front of more than 73,000 fans at AT&T Stadium, which was also the largest to see an American sports program since the coronovirus epidemic.
Saunders remained serene, stating that he could not see with his right eye which was severely swollen by Alvarez’s repeated and deliberate flying.
In the eighth, Alvarez could feel the victory as he waved his arms in the air around the ring to the south as if telling the Mexican supporter that the end was near.
“I knew it,” Alvarez said. “I think I broke his cheek. He didn’t come to fight because I broke his cheek.”
Saunders turned from the ring to the hospital to see his injured eye.
Alvarez, who improved to 56–1–2 with 38 defeats, was ahead on all three judge scorecards when Saunders decided not to come out of his corner.
The 31-year-old Saunders, who fell to 30-1 with 14 KOs, argued and won his case to increase the size of the ring from 20 feet to 22 feet. But no amount of extra space was going to allow him to escape from Alvarez’s destructive punch power.
The victory serves as another step on the 168-pound (76.2 kg) split in Alvarez’s quest.
The Mexican pound-for-pound king’s only career loss to date came in 2013 against 23-year veteran Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The 30-year-old Alvarez bored his time until he could impose his will on Saunders, who had never faced an opponent of this magnitude.
Everything changed in the eighth and the end came suddenly for Saunders as the fight came down to Alvarez’s power and speed and Saunders’ boxing skills.
But to his credit Saunders proved to be a tough opponent to hold the Mexican winner in the opening round.
Alvarez had his way in the eighth as Saunders tried to bring his way through the goal to the Ducks and the Clinic, but the punches were too much for the Briton and his right eye was rapidly closing.
Alvarez often annihilates his opponents before they are brutally beaten, and even this time it does not follow the game plan set by his trainers to perfection.
“I said before the fight that it was going to develop until the seventh and eighth rounds,” Alvarez said. He said, “I was winning the round.
“I began to adjust really quickly.”
The other major champion in the 168-pound division is the unsurpassed American Caleb Plant, the title holder of the International Boxing Federation which is 21–0 with 12 knockouts.
Alvarez was fighting for the third time in six months so boxing fans know that he likes to be busy in the ring and now wants to fight Plant as soon as possible.
“I’m coming man, I’m coming to my friend,” he said.
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