Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez delivered a vicious uppercut to stop England’s Billy Joe Saunders following the eighth round of their unification bout in Arlington, Texas.
More than 73,000 people were in attendance for the highly-anticipated fight, which began with Saunders exploding out of the blocks with a ton of energy, but failing to land a scoring shot.
After Saunders’ early burst, Alvarez took control of the ring to trap the Englishman in the corner and sneak in multiple shots to the body.
Alvarez maintained the advantage throughout the early rounds, but was unable to deliver a killer blow.
The momentum briefly switched in the fifth round when Saunders stunned the Mexican with a strong left hook.
However, Alvarez quickly regained his composure, outworking his opponent until he landed a flurry of head punches in the eighth round including the telling blow which opened up a cut below Saunders’ right eye.
The Briton’s corner ultimately called an end to the bout while treating the eye in-between the eighth and ninth rounds.
Following the TKO victory, Alvarez now holds hold three of the four belts in the 168lb division having added the WBO super middleweight championship to his collection.
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