It was hard to tell how much damage Billy Joe Saunders had after Canelo Alvarez had unleashed an extremely powerful uppercut to the Englishman’s right eye during their middleweight unification fight. Over 73,000 spectators in the AT&T Stadium in Texas, many in the arena believed that a significant blow had indeed been landed.
All It Takes Is One Punch
It was only after both fighters came out of their clinch that the worst-case scenario for Saunders had been confirmed. The 30-year-old’s eye closed up within seconds and his cheek appeared to be slightly caved in. Admirably, that didn’t stop Saunders from finishing the rest of the round before heading back to his corner to tell his trainer Mark Tibbs that he could no longer see. Team Saunders was left with no other option than to inform the referee that the Englishman was unable to continue. Jubilant scenes then followed in the ring as Alvarez was awarded the WBO super middleweight title by way of TKO. Meanwhile, Saunders was immediately transported to a local hospital in Dallas for emergency surgery as this post-fight report from talksport.com officially confirms.
It was a harsh end for Saunders, but he knows as much as anyone how tough this division can be. That’s not to say that the 30-year-old was ahead in the bout, all three judges had Alvarez winning the fight at the time of the stoppage, but he was boxing intelligently and avoiding most of the Mexican’s power shots.
Billy Joe Saunders ain’t backing down 😤#CaneloSaunders pic.twitter.com/3urLouxZDz
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 9, 2021