On 8th May, in front of nearly seventy-three thousand fans, Canelo added the WBO Super Weight title to his WBC and WBA titles after a brilliant eight-round TKO win over Billy Joe Saunders.
The way Canelo entered the arena, we knew there was a deep hunger, and sense he was there to take nothing but the win. The Mexican promised to finish Billy Joe Saunders between rounds eight and nine and he certainly lived up to it. In front of a packed stadium, Saunders’ team made the call to stop the fight, as a big right from Alvarez left Saunders’ right eye shut and it’s now suspected that he’s suffering from a broken eye socket.
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Saunders did well to cause some problems for Canelo in the initial rounds with his quick jabs and agile movement and it looked clear that Canelo was only looking to land the big punches which would end the fight. Saunders did well in the middle rounds and avoided a lot of significant strikes, but things started to go Canelo’s way in the eighth round when he landed a big right on Saunders which connected sweetly…and from that point on, Canelo could sniff victory. That punch furthered his confidence as he started to wave his arms in the air, demanding the largest crowd ever to watch indoor boxing, to make some noise for him. With the support of the crowd, Canelo kept throwing punches at Saunders who was looking to see out the round. A blistering uppercut landed by Canelo caused instant swelling in Saunders’ right eye and as the round ended, we saw Saunders’ right eye completely shut due to the swelling, giving Canelo a TKO win. This victory secured Canelo Alvarez’s 56th career win (56-1-2) and also earned him the WBO Super Weight Title.
After the match, Eddie Hearn said, “I spoke to Mark Tibbs [Saunders trainer] and he said that he couldn’t see and he didn’t let him go out.” Saunders left the ring without any post-fight interviews and was seen getting into an ambulance taking him to the local hospital to assess his injury.
[Image Credit: Canelo Alvarez]
Shashank Iyer