Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders put their super-middleweight world titles on the line in Dallas on Saturday night, May 8, 2021.
Billy Joe Saunders quit on his stool to hand Canelo Alvarez victory – and a third super-middleweight world title.
He was attempting to win a third belt at super-middleweight to leave him short of only Caleb Plant’s strap.
But Saunders started slightly brighter, landing his lightening-fast jab in the opening round.
Canelo responded well however, targeting the visitor’s body in the second session.
And he opened up a lead through rounds three and four as his right hand found a home around Saunders’ midriff.
But the Brit impressed in the fifth session as he began to put his punches together – only to slow down again as the fight reached the halfway mark.
Canelo edged further ahead in the seventh stanza after resuming his attack to the body and he enjoyed his best three-minute spell in the eighth as Saunders’ right eye began to swell up.
It proved to be his last contribution as he quickly exited the ring after the official announcement.
On the undercard, Brit Kieron Conway was beaten by Anthony Joshua-managed Souleymane Cissokho.
In an underwhelming clash which had promised much more, Conway sprung into life in the ninth round when he dropped his unbeaten opponent.
But Cissokho survived to hear the final bell before being awarded victory by scores of
And in the first world title fight of the evening, Elwin Soto stopped Katsunari Takayama in the ninth round to retain his light-flyweight title.
Soto started like a train and had his Japanese challenger on the ropes early in the fight but the champion’s output slowed in the latter stages as Takayama clung on.
And he appeared set to at least hear the final bell before the referee stepped in prematurely to hand Soto victory.
Earlier, hard-hitting heavyweight Frank Sanchez moved to 18-0 after a bizarre ending to his fight against Nagy Aguilera.
Sanchez caught his opponent with a cuffing right hand in the sixth round and, after a delay, Aguilera threw himself to the canvas.
He was looking for Sanchez to be disqualified but the shot was ruled an accidental foul and the Cuban was awarded the victory by the judges.
