CANELO ALVAREZ brutally stopped Billy Joe Saunders in the eighth round of their Texas showdown.
The fight was mightily close until Canelo stepped up a gear in the eighth round and Saunders corner pulled him following a horror eye injury.
It has now been revealed Saunders suffered a fractured eye socket from an uppercut and has been taken to hospital.
Claim more than £800 in bonus cash and 350 free spins
The bout took place over at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas with 73,000 fans in attendance.
- TV/ live stream: DAZN
- Start time: Fight started at 4.27am BST
Follow ALL of the latest reaction and updates below…
SILLY BILLY
Saunders tried to taunt Canelo with the ‘Tyson Fury tongue’ before being smashed up and sent to hospital.
The British super-middleweight took a leaf out of his close pal’s textbook by sticking out his tongue during his title fight.
IN THE EU-BANK
Chris Eubank Jr landed a huge cash windfall after betting on Canelo Alvarez to stop Billy Joe Saunders – then called out the unified champ.
The British middleweight star stuck £10,000 on the Mexican to win the fight before it went the full 12 rounds.
And with odds of evens, he doubled his money when Saunders quit from his stool after the eighth.
In a video of him watching the moment BJS quit, Eubank Jr was in hysterics and called his fellow Brit a “wet bag”.
Now a charity of his choice is on course for a bumper donation with Eubank promising to give the winnings away to a good cause.
ANOTHER LOSS
Derek Chisora’s dreadful week went from bad to worse last night as he lost £8,500 after Billy Joe Saunders was beaten by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The British heavyweight suffered a second successive defeat eight days ago when he was on the wrong end of a split decision against Joseph Parker.
But Chisora was hoping his fortunes would change yesterday when he backed Saunders to cause a huge upset by beating Alvarez.
Earlier this week, Del Boy showed off a 10,000 euro bet he had placed on Saunders.
It showed the potential winnings as 62,000 euros.
Yet it wasn’t to be as Canelo fractured Saunders’ orbital socket with an uppercut in the eighth round which lead to the Brit’s trainer Mark Tibbs throwing in the towel before the start of the ninth.
TAKING THE MAC
Conor McGregor appears to have mocked Billy Joe Saunders after the British boxer’s corner threw in the towel at the end of the eighth round of his fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The former WBO super-middleweight champion suffered a fractured orbital socket following an uppercut from Canelo, an injury which saw his right eye completely close up.
And Saunders’ trainer Mark Tibbs decided to pull him out of the fight as a result, much to the disappointment of many boxing fans who had seen a thrilling fight up to that point.
UFC star McGregor had little sympathy – seemingly mocking Saunders with a picture of fellow MMA rival Nate Diaz.
The image was a bloodied shot of Diaz from UFC 202 when he and McGregor went to war for a second time.
Diaz’s right eye was almost entirely closed but he fought on for the five rounds, only to lose to the Irishman on the scorecards.
CANELO’S 15 BELTS
Canelo has now won a remarkable 15 world championship belts during his illustrious career.
The 30-year-old is a four-weight world champion and needs just the IBF belt – held by Caleb Plant – to complete his super-middleweight collection.
PLANTING THE SEEDS?
What’s next for Canelo after his victory against Saunders?
The only super middleweight belt he needs to complete his collection is the IBF one held by Caleb Plant.
The 28-year-old is undefeated in his 21 fights and has successfully defended his belt three times since winning it against Jose Uzcategui in 2019.
But is Plant up to the challenge?
Here is his reaction from last night…
FURY PREDICTION
Tyson Fury’s pre-fight prediction was half right – there was a masterclass in Texas.
Except it was Canelo who delivered the masterclass as he reaffirmed his status as one of the greats of the modern era.
Here’s what Fury said before the fight…
MORE CROWD SCRAPS
There was at least two fights in the crowd during the Canelo/Saunders bout.
What could they be possibly arguing about?
Do we need home and away sections for boxing matches now?
Incredible…
WHAT A MOMENT
Here’s that incredible uppercut from Canelo…
FAN GETS TATTOO
A Billy Joe Saunders fan got a huge 31-0 back tattoo of the British boxer, anticipating he would defeat Canelo Alvarez.
The tattoo is of Saunders holding Canelo’s decapitated head.
Is it easy to change a tattoo?
BUT DUBOIS SUPPORTS BILLY JOE
Despite Saunders’ comments last year, Dubois has backed his fellow Brit on Twitter.
WORDS HAUNT SAUNDERS
Saunders has come under fire on Twitter after some comments he made about Daniel Dubois’ eye injury.
The British heavyweight suffered the nasty injury during his defeat to Joe Joyce last year.
This is what Saunders, who suffered a similar injury last night, had to say…
SAUNDERS SOAKS IT UP
Before Canelo broke his face, Saunders seemed to enjoy every moment of the biggest fight of his career to date.
The Brit was seen dancing in front of the crowd as he began his ring walk.
It wasn’t meant to be for him on the night – will he get another chance?
THE REAL FIGHT?
A brawl broke out during last night’s fight between Canelo and Saunders.
It’s unlikely any of these gents would stand a chance against world champ Canelo – or an injured Saunders, for that matter.
KARMA?
A few fight fans believe the painful end to Billy Joe Saunders’ night was comeuppance for his woeful treatment of a Mexican reporter.
The live ESPN broadcast during fight week was ruined by Saunders’ childish ‘humour’.
ONE MORE BELT
Canelo now just needs the 12st IBF belt to complete the set of the four major crowns.
Caleb Plant has the red strap but Canelo has not been denied at 168lbs yet…
RING OF FIRE
Boxing bible Ring Magazine took a spiteful shot at Billy Joe Saunders last night.
The mag has now apologised and is trying to work out who posted the mean message…
BLACK AND BLUE
Tyson Fury will be disappointed with the defeat his friend Billy Joe Saunders suffered tonight.
And he was ringside in Dallas, Texas, with an eye injury of his own picked up sparring in his Las Vegas training camp.
Eddie Hearn claims the AJ undispited decider will be announced next week…
CANEL-GO!
Demetrius Andrade gatecrashed Canelo’s post-fight victory press conference and demands a fight.
But the Mexican pound-for-pound king is not in the mood for games…
GYPSY CODE
Heavyweight and friend Tom Little has defended Saunders’ decison to surrender with the eye injury he suffered.
Little believes his frllow Traveller will bounce back…
PLANT THE SEED
IBF super-middlweight champion Caleb Plant has the one 12st belt missing from Canelo’s ever-expanding collection.
And the American looks ready to face the pound-for-pound superstar…
SWEARING WARNING
Demetrious Andrade, the WBO middleweight champion, just gatecrashed Canelo’s press conference.
The tricky American southpaw asked the pound-for-pound king to fight him and got a spiteful x-rated reply…
EAGLE-EYED ED
Hearn says: “You could see as soon as Canelo hit him that his eye socket was caved in.
“Billy went back to Mark Tibbs and said that he could not see and they have pulled him out of the fight.
“Because he couldn’t see, the next round would have been a dangerous situation.”
NOT THE RESPONCE I WANTED
Billy Joe Saunders went back to his corner after round eight with a nasty bruise around his eye.
Trainer Mark Tibbs asked him if he felt he continue and it seems Saunders said no…
TRAINER OF THE YEAR
Canelo’s childhood trainer and mentor Eddy Reynoso knew his chsrge would get it done in the later rounds.
The Mexican mastermind was beaming with pride as his protege took another leap btoward becoming the undisputed champ.
Reunoso said: “One more step!
“An honor and a pride to be Mexican,today it was shown that when it comes to support we put on the batteries!
“More than 70,000 people gathered just to support the Mexican sportsman !
“Thank you for your support friends! We will continue to work hard to have many nights like this!”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
