Canelo Alvarez was too good for Billy Joe Saunders, scoring an eighth round TKO win at AT&T Stadium in Dallas to claim Saunders' WBO super-middleweight title.
The win sees Canelo take another step towards unifying the 168-pound division, with the Mexican superstar already holding the WBC, WBA and Ring titles.
Canelo says he wants to fight IBF champion Caleb Plant in his next fight in September.
For our full fight recap, click here.
CANELO VS SAUNDERS LIVE RESULTS, HIGHLIGHTS AND UPDATES
2:00 - A right uppercut breaks Saunders' eye socket or cheekbone, and Canelo dominates the rest of the eighth round. Saunders' corner stops the bout before the start of the ninth.
1:03pm - Time for the anthems. We'll have three today.
12:40pm - The weirdness continues, with Elwin Soto awarded a TKO win over Katsunari Takayama for the WBO light flyweight world title.
Soto had sped out to a big win over the first half of the bout, but Takayama was still in it. Referee Laurence Cole inexplicably stepped in and stopped it, denying Takayama a chance to win his last fight as a professional. Silly stuff.
What in the fuck is Laurence Cole doing pic.twitter.com/zNuH5gBWF6
— DICK HERCULES (@RatCatcherMpls) May 9, 2021
11:50am - Not a hugely entertaining contest between Kieron Conway and Souleymane Cissokho at super welterweight. Cissokho was in cruise control for eight rounds until he was caught by a double uppercut and was dropped in round nine.
Conway could take advantage of the rattled Cissokho though and the Frenchman lasted until the final bell.
There was controversy at the scorecards, with one judge seeing it 97-92 to Conway, which is just absolute madness, if not outright corruption.
In the end, Cissokho claimed a split decision win.
10:50am - Billy Joe Saunders has arrived.
Billy Joe Saunders is in the AT&T Stadium! 🏟️🇬🇧@MatchroomBoxing #CaneloSaunders pic.twitter.com/RB2BN05em8
— BETFRED (@Betfred) May 9, 2021
10am - We're underway in Dallas with heavyweights Nagy Aguilera and Frank Sanchez getting things started.
Drama in this one, with Aguilera claiming he'd been hit in the back of the head and going down in round six. Earlier in the fight, Aguilera claimed he'd been hit by an illegal shot as well, and the instant reaction is that he faked it.
Aguilera looks as though he has a shoulder injury too, with many commenters saying he may be faking it.
The crowd boos every time Aguilera is shown on TV and the bout is stopped due to an accidental foul. We go to the scorecards, with Sanchez awarded a unanimous decision win.
What have we just witnessed? What an embarrassing way to end a fight, pathetic, WOW!!!! #SachezAguilera #boxing #DAZN #MatchroomBoxing #CaneloSaunders #CanelovsSaunders 🥊❤️pic.twitter.com/U4vcgJTxiA
— Kevin McLaughlin (@MrKevMac) May 9, 2021
CANELO VS SAUNDERS RESULTS
Canelo Alvarez def Billy Joe Saunders via Rd 8 TKO (corner stoppage)
Elwin Soto def Katsunari Takayama via TKO
Souleymane Cissokho def Kieron Conway via SD
Frank Sanchez df Nagy Aguilera via UD (fight stopped in 6th Rd after accidental foul)
CANELO VS SAUNDERS UNDERCARD
Super middleweight - Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders – (12rds)
Junior flyweight - Elwin Soto vs. Katsunari Takayama – (12)
Super welterweight - Kieron Conway vs. Souleymane Cissokho – (12)
Heavyweight - Frank Sánchez vs. Nagy Aguilera
Featherweight - Marc Castro vs. TBA – (8)
Lightweight - Keyshawn Davis vs. - Jose Antonio Meza – (6)
Welterweight - Kelvin Davis vs. Jan Marsalek – (6)
Welterweight - Christian Alan Gomez Duran vs. TBA – (8)
CANELO VS SAUNDERS WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS
Catch up on all the action from the weigh-ins right here.
CANELO-SAUNDERS RING DRAMA THREATENS BLOCKBUSTER SHOWDOWN
It wouldn't be big-time boxing without some kind of pre-fight drama.
Billy Joe Saunders threatened to walk away from the bout because he claimed the ring was too small. Saunders wants to fight in a 22-foot ring, but the ring at the arena is only 20 feet.
There was a lot of bluster about the two-foot difference from Saunders' camp, but Canelo wasn't worried.
"He has to fight Saturday, "Alvarez said through an interpreter. "The fight is going to happen. That's not a problem."
By Wednesday morning (AEDT), the issue was resolved and the fight was back on.
CANELO ALVAREZ RECORD - BOXREC
Canelo is 55-1-2 with 37 knockout wins on his record.
His solitary loss is to Floyd Mayweather at super welterweight in 2013 before he became a truly global boxing star.
His fifth fight, in 2006 when he was just 15, was ruled a split draw after four rounds. His second draw was in a middleweight blockbuster opposite Gennady Golovkin in 2017.
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS RECORD - BOXREC
Englishman Saunders is 30-0 with 14 wins by knockout.
He won the vacant WBO super middleweight title with a 2019 win over Shefat Isufi. He has defended the title twice, most recently in December with a unanimous decision win over Martin Murray at Wembley Arena.
CANELO'S LAST FIGHT
Canelo's last fight was a three round destruction of WBC mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in February.
Yildirim was dropped in the third round and his corner stopped the action before the start of the fourth.
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