The Manila Times

Alvarez adds another title with TKO of Saunders

Canelo Alvarez added another title belt in the super middleweight division, handing Billy Joe Saunders his first loss when the English boxer didn’t come out for the ninth round on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

The popular Mexican won his latest Cinco de Mayo bout with a staggering right hand in the middle of the eighth round, sending the raucous crowd of 73,126 into a frenzy as we waved his arms as the round continued.

Saunders’ corner waved in defeat before the ninth while treating a cut under his right eye as Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 knockouts) added Saunders’ WBO belt to his WBA and WBC straps. It was the first loss in 31 fights for the 31-year-old Brit.

With pandemic restrictions on attendance long gone in Texas, the festive crowd at 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium was the biggest to date for a sporting event in the pandemic. Organizers have said it would break the United States’ indoor boxing attendance record

of 63,352 set in 1978 at the Superdome in New Orleans when Muhammad Ali beat Leon Spinks.

Two current champions were in attendance in heavyweight Tyson Fury, Saunders’ fellow Brit, and welterweight Errol Spence Jr., who lives in the Dallas area. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also was there.

After a tentative first round, the 30-year-old Alvarez took control before Saunders had his best rounds in the fifth and sixth, when the southpaw landed his best left hand of the fight. Before the eighth-round flurry, Alvarez was in control. He was ahead on all three scorecards.

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2021-05-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/282067689810721

The Manila Times