Fiery Canelo Álvarez stalks, defeats Billy Joe Saunders in front of record crowd
There’s no other moment in sports like the few seconds before the opening bell rings for a big fight. When two boxers stare at each other across the ring — like Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Billy Joe Saunders did on Saturday night inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — it feels like time slows down. The opening bell can’t ring fast enough.
At that point, it feels like few other things matter. Not the national anthems from the United States, England and Mexico. Not the mini-concert with Antonio Aguilar that included fireworks. Not the size of the ring, which became a minor controversy on Monday, when Saunders demanded a bigger size canvas or else he wouldn’t fight.
None of that ultimately mattered once the bell rang, and almost immediately, Álvarez forced his fight on Saunders. Álvarez stalked Saunders the first few rounds. A few times each round, he’d force him to the ropes, or worse, into the corner. There, Álvarez punished Saunders. He attacked the body long enough that Saunders’ hands began to lower as he tried to protect his organs.
When Saunders did attack, he exposed himself to Álvarez’s counterpunches. By the middle rounds, with his arms hanging lower and lower, Saunders got hit more and more in the face. Álvarez punched him so hard that Saunders, always arrogant, would simply shake his head, claiming none of it hurt. Except it did. His eyes started to swell around the same time he tried to convince the announced crowd of 73,126 — a new record crowd for an indoor boxing event in the United States and the largest crowd for a sporting event since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020 — that he was fine. Not like anyone would have believed him.
12 best photos from Canelo Álvarez defeat of Billy Joe Saunders
Check out the 12 best photos from Canelo Álvarez’s TKO win over Billy Joe Saunders, who withdrew due to an eye injury following eight full rounds in front of a record crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Saturday.
Canelo wins by TKO after Saunders suffers eye injury
Saunders was hurt during Round 8. At about the 1:30 mark, he stumbled under pressure from Canelo’s surge of blows and right uppercut.
And it’s over. After his corner struggled to help Saunders open his injured eye, they flagged he could not continue.
Canelo is the winner by TKO and he was carried around ring. It initially was unclear whether Saunders didn’t want to fight or if his corner stopped a fight he couldn’t win. There was no possible way for Saunders to hurt Canelo.
Saunders team later announced Canelo fractured his orbital bone and the English fighter was transported to a hospital by ambulance.
All judges had Canelo winning when the fight was stopped.
Check back soon for more post-fight coverage.
Round 7: Saunders delivers his best round against Canelo
Better round for Saunders, probably his best work of fight. Still, round was close enough that some judges could have scored it for Canelo.
Canelo is landing hard body shots on Saunders.
Round 6: Saunders remains cautious, possibly to avoid a counter
Saunders is hesitant to let punches go as much as he should, since Canelo is a master counter-puncher. Whenever Saunders does land a solid punch, Canelo answers back immediately.
Round 5: Saunders cautious as he tries to avoid Canelo
Same as every other round. Nothing much has changed except Saunders covering body more and more. Canelo has won every round so far.
Round 4: Canelo has imposed his style of fighting early
This is Canelo’s style of fighting. He’s slowly wearing down Saunders.
It also seems like Saunders is starting to slow down a bit in his movement. Canelo’s getting closer and closer.
I score this 4-0 Canelo through four rounds, but a few are giving Saunders one of those. Still a considerable Canelo advantage early.
Round 3: Canelo stays active, but Saunders pushes back a bit
Canelo’s starting to get into a groove. Saunders trying to move but continues to get caught against ropes and corner.
Saunders hit a few times, shook head to say it didn’t hurt. But it did.
Round 2: Canelo continues to bring more energy early
Canelo continues to be aggressor. The hardest punches of the second round came from Canelo, especially two straight rights at Saunders’ chin.
Canelo is up two rounds to zero with the crowd firmly behind him.
Round 1: Canelo, Saunders mostly feeling each other out early
Round 1 featured Canelo and Saunders mostly feeling out each other. Perhaps some nervous energy.
Canelo was aggressor, a few times backing Saunders into ropes. Hardest punch of round came from Canelo, a body shot.
This followed an extended pre-fight show, including a stirring Mexican medley of songs by Mexican icon Pepe Aguilar to accompany Canelo’s fight entrance.
Canelo vs. Saunders officially draws pandemic record crowd of 73,126
Finally, we’ve come to main event. But not before the national anthems and whatever other musical act accompanies Canelo.
Who will accompany Canelo?
If he comes out alone, which song will play?
Who will sing the Mexican national anthem?
How long will all that take before fight begins?
One thing is for sure, this is a record crowd. Just announced: 73,126.
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Feisty Canelo vs. Saunders crowd filling AT&T Stadium
We’re still in a pandemic, but this fight feels the closest thing to normal for the past year and couple of months.
AT&T Stadium is about three-quarters full and the crowd keeps flowing in. They were loud when Canelo Álvarez got shown on big screen that hangs over the boxing ring. Canelo arrived and then went into the Dallas Cowboys locker room.
The fight is expected to draw 70,000 fans, making it the most attended sporting event since the onset of the coronavirus in March 2020.
The crowd has been loud throughout all fights. And, in press row, there aren’t five minutes that pass without fans yelling for Julio César Chávez, Oscar Valdez or Marco Antonio Barrera — all great Mexican boxers providing fight commentary for their respective broadcasts.
Canelo Álvarez foe Billy Joe Saunders joins list of Mexican boxer villains
Billy Joe Saunders has slowly worked his way onto the list of Mexican boxer villain opponents.
The most famous villains, in the eyes of Mexican boxing fans, have been Roger Mayweather, who called himself the “Mexican Assassin.”
There’s also Greg Haugen, who said he didn’t fear fighting in Mexico City, against Julio César Chávez, because Mexicans were too poor to buy tickets.
This week, Saunders’ antics have riled up the usually stoic Canelo Álvarez. Even Eddy Reynoso, Álvarez’s trainer, wants his fighter to knock out Saunders.
Expect loud boos during Saunders’ introduction. And, depending how the fight goes, including the post fight interview, perhaps Saunders will join the list of Mexican boxing villains.
AT&T Stadium isn’t even halfway full but it’s getting loud in here. Especially after the fight between Frank Sánchez, who trains with Reynoso, and Nagy Aguilera.
In the sixth round, after a punch from Sánchez that didn’t properly connect, Aguilera claimed he’d been hit in back of head and could not continue.
He laid on the ring canvas for minutes. Once he got up, the fight went to judges’ scorecards. All three scored it for Sánchez, 60 to 54.
But even then, the crowd continued to boo Aguilera while cheering loudly for Sánchez. And as the giant screen over the boxing ring switched between Aguilera and Sánchez, the crowd switched between booing and cheering.
Pro-Canelo crowd arrives at AT&T Stadium during undercard bouts
To call this a pro-Canelo crowd would be an understatement.
Lots of Mexican national soccer team jerseys, “No Boxing, No Life” T-shirts and headbands with “Canelo” written on them.
There’s even a couple with matching sarapes, which is usually what Canelo Álvarez wears when entering ring.
The second undercard fight of the day was at welterweight between Christian Alan Gomez Duran, from Guadalajara, Mexico, and Xavier Wilson, from San Antonio, Texas.
The fight was stopped by Rosario Solis at the 2:19 mark of second round after Gomez Duran knocked down Wilson, who stood up but was hurt.
Solis, the referee, runs the Irving Police Athletic League. It’s one of the best boxing gyms in the Dallas area. Vergil Ortiz, the rising welterweight star, sometimes trains there between fights.
During the third undercard fight, Keyshawn Davis faced Jose Antonio Meza. Davis is the brother of Kelvin Davis, who fought in first bout.
Like his brother, Keyshawn Davis also won. All judges scored it 60–54.
Like the Davis brothers, Canelo Álvarez also comes from a fighting family. In 2008, all seven Álvarez brothers fought on same card.
Column: Canelo Álvarez’s unification fight remains true to sport amid circus acts
Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting a YouTuber? Oscar de la Hoya making a comeback at 48 against who knows who?
Canelo Álvarez didn’t want to hear about any of it.
“That’s not a boxing match,” Álvarez said in Spanish on a recent conference call. “That’s what people have to understand. It’s more of an event, no? Boxing is completely different. We all know that.”
He was right. His protests were also entirely in vain.
Canelo-Saunders undercard: Kelvin Davis defeats Jan Marsalek in first bout
We are at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It’s a windy and humid day but inside the stadium, it’s perfect.
Promoters expect around 70,000 fans, most of them here for the main event between Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, from Mexico, and Billy Joe Saunders, from England. The fight is for WBC, WBA Super, WBO and Ring Magazine World Super-Middleweight belts. But first, there are seven fights on the undercard.
The first fight was a four-rounder between Kelvin Davis, from Norfolk, Virginia, against Jan Marsalek, from Pardubice, Czech Republic.
AT&T Stadium is mostly empty. So empty Kelvin Davis’ family and friends stand as close to the ring as possible and yell out their advice and encouragement. They screamed as, on the first punch of the night, Davis — a lanky southpaw — threw a check right hook that hurt Marsalek.
Davis hurt Marsalek again to end the second round. Davis was dominating fight until Marsalek knocked him down in fourth and final round.
Even though Davis looked hurt, he survived long enough to end the fight on his feet. Marsalek’s knockdown of Davis was not enough to overcome the first three rounds.
All judges scored the fight 38-37 in favor of Davis.
What time is Canelo vs. Saunders? Here’s how to watch the fight
Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Billy Joe Saunders had to be separated during their weigh-in Friday and are fired up ahead of their highly anticipated unification bout Saturday night.
But when exactly will the Mexican star and scrappy Englishman face off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas?
- The undercard is scheduled to start at 2:20 p.m. PDT.
- The main card is slated to begin at 5 p.m. PDT.
- And the Canelo vs. Saunders main event is expected to start at 8 p.m. PDT.
The fight will be available on DAZN, which you can access here.
Go inside Mexican star boxer Canelo Álvarez’s gym, where a champion is molded
In a hidden San Diego gym where he has quietly worked for several years, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez is in the place he enjoys most: his training camp.
Following the express three-round win over Avni Yildirim in February, the Jalisco, Mexico, native took only one week off before taking on his next challenge: training for the showdown against WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs), at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Saturday night.
Coach Eddy Reynoso says Álvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) beating the undefeated Englishman would confirm he is the “best pound-for-pound” boxer and “he has reached the top of the sport.”
Betting analysis: Will Canelo Álvarez beat Billy Joe Saunders?
Saturday a gunslinger from across the border rides into town as AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, hosts the biggest draw in boxing. Three super-middleweight titles are on the line as the WBA and WBC titlist and Mexican superstar Canelo Álvarez faces off with WBO holder Billy Joe Saunders from England in what will be a very intriguing clash of styles.
What can I say about Álvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) that we don’t know already?
Now 30, he is at the peak of his powers and probably his optimum weight. The four-division champ is clearly the number one fighter in the world based on his résumé alone. The list of big-name victims is longer than one’s arm, yet in some quarters, he still doesn’t really get the credit he deserves. The fact remains he has faced the best in the three divisions he has mainly participated in, and except for a points defeat to Floyd Mayweather eight years ago when all the terms (including weight) were against him, he has remained unbeaten.