Canelo Alvarez defeats Billy Joe Saunders with brutal TKO to claim WBO title in Texas
- Alvarez takes his 56th victory and Saunders’ WBO strap with hard-fought win
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez beat Billy Joe Saunders in their super middleweight unification showdown at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on Saturday.
The Englishman refused to answer the bell before round nine, with a suspected fractured orbital bone, handing the Mexican Alvarez a hard-fought TKO victory in his traditional Cinco de Mayo weekend fight.
The timing of the stoppage was a surprise as Saunders appeared to have the momentum. The Englishman was well in the fight and there was a definite shift in trajectory as the fight approached the midway point with the tricky Saunders finding success with his jab.
Indeed, Saunders felt confident enough to clown the raucous 73,000 home crowd, a record indoor attendance in the US, while pulling tongues at and beckoning on the four-weight world champion.
But round eight was the turning point when Canelo seized the momentum back and rallied the massive home crowd as they roared on their man.