Canelo Alvarez kept his undefeated record against British fighters perfect with an eighth-round retirement victory over the game but limited Billy Joe Saunders last Saturday night in front of a crowd of over 73,000 fans at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) is now 7-0 against British fighters during his 16-year professional career. None of the fights Canelo has had against British guys have been remotely close or competitive, for that matter.
Indeed, the matches have been so one-sided, you wonder why Canelo even bothered. Surely, there have been better fighters over the years that Canelo should and could have fought.
Saunders looked entirely terrible last night. The only reason the fight was slightly competitive is that Canelo wasn’t letting his hands go the way other fighters like Gennady Golovkin, David Benavidez, and Jermall Charlo would have done had they been inside the ring with Billy Joe.
Canelo’s wins over British fighters:
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Callum Smith
- Rocky Fielding
- Amir Khan
- Liam Smith
- Ryan Rhodes
- Matthew Hatton
Canelo would have had a much tougher time recently if he’d chosen to substitute Benavidez, Andrade, or Charlo in place of Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders.
Billy Joe’s eye socket was caved in
“I think he talked to Billy Joe, I don’t know what was said, but you could tell as soon as he [Canelo] hit him, he done his eye socket,” said Hearn to iFL TV.
“His eye socket was caved in, Billy couldn’t see, and he went back to [Trainer] Mark Tibbs and said he couldn’t see. They had a conversation and pulled him out of the fight.
“I think because he couldn’t see, the next round was going to be a bad situation [for Saunders]. I think he’d have got badly hurt in that round.
“I think Mark Tibbs knows best. I thought Billy Joe boxed really well. I thought Billy started slow and then started to get into the fight.
“But you could tell with the power [of Canelo] that there was always a chance of being hurt in that fight. I thought Billy showed a great chin as well. I thought he boxed well and came to win,” said Hearn.
Saunders’s career is now murky, and it could be over with now that he’s suffered an injury and dislodged as the WBO super middleweight champion.
The injury will take time for Billy Joe to come back from, and even when he’s ready to return to the ring, are there any top fighters he can beat?
Saunders’ only two notable wins on his 12-year resume came against Chris Eubank Jr and Andy Lee. He didn’t look good in either of those fights.
Lee is now retired, and Eubank Jr almost lost his last match against British domestic level fighter Marcus Morrison.
“It was the correct decision. He don’t want to go to the fight anymore,” said Canelo to iFL TV about Saunders’ decision to quit after the eighth.
“His corner stopped the fight, not the referee. I hope so,” said Canelo when asked if Caleb Plant is next.
