A stoppage in the Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders fight earlier this month was absolutely necessary.
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Billy Joe Saunders
Saunders, who was undefeated entering his super-middleweight title fight with Alvarez on DAZN, did well for himself over the course of seven rounds. In the eighth round, though, Canelo started to tag Saunders and landed a crushing uppercut that put the Englishman in severe jeopardy and led to his corner throwing in the towel before the ninth.
Injury to Saunders’ Face
The fact that Saunders told his corner he couldn’t see immediately raised red flags, even though he appeared fine to continue and there was no obvious damage to his face. The damage was worse than we had anticipated.
After losing against Alvarez, Saunders took some serious harm to his reputation. After taking all of Canelo’s punches, especially one huge uppercut, the 31-year-old boxer’s face clearly required some significant repair.
This is why you should never make assumptions about a fight or a team without first gathering evidence. Before seeing the extent of the injury to Saunders’ face, it was easy to question why he couldn’t continue fighting Canelo after he wasn’t knocked down or cut badly.
He was overheard complaining to his crew that he was blind, and they quickly intervened.
After the fight, it came out that Saunders had been hospitalised with what was likely a broken orbital bone.
Reports surfaced Monday morning (AEST) saying that Saunders had spent the previous night in a Dallas hospital after tests revealed he had several fractures around his eye.
This morning, Eddie Hearn, Saunders’ promoter, announced that the surgery would take place today.
“Just spent the night at a hospital in Dallas; @bjsaunders_ checked in. He tweeted that he “suffered many fractures to the orbital area and will undergo surgery this afternoon.”
Before the fight, the Matchroom Boxing matchmaker had commented that Saunders’ condition didn’t appear good.
According to Hearn, Saunders “couldn’t see” during the battle.
Mark Tibbs, Saunders’ trainer, told me that his client was unable to walk outside because of poor visibility.
In my opinion, Billy boxed magnificently. Because of his incredible strength, Canelo took his time. Although Billy is quite dexterous, he recently fractured his eye socket. Canelo is finishing the fight on a high note. It’s too good.
Last Words
With the win, Canelo became the new WBO super-middleweight champion, dethroning former champion Billy Joe Saunders. The Mexican superstar is growing better each and every time we see him and continues to prove why he’s one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world today.
After all, Saunders had never been beaten before, let alone having his face disfigured like this.
