CANELO ALVAREZ brutally stopped Billy Joe Saunders in the eighth round of their Texas showdown.
The fight was mightily close until Canelo stepped up a gear in the eighth round and Saunders corner pulled him following a horror eye injury.
It has now been revealed Saunders suffered a fractured eye socket from an uppercut and has been taken to hospital.
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The bout took place over at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas with 73,000 fans in attendance.
- TV/ live stream: DAZN
- Start time: Fight started at 4.27am BST
Follow ALL of the latest reaction and updates below…
- Thomas Blow
TIME TO JOE
Saunders will be out for a 'long, long time' and could even RETIRE following his brutal defeat to Canelo, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
Speaking to iFL TV, Hearn said: "You could see as soon as he [Canelo] hit him [Saunders] that he'd done his eye socket.
"I think because he couldn't see, the next round was going to be a bad situation. I think he would have got badly hurt in that round.
"He's gone to hospital and I believe he'll have that operated on immediately. So he's going to be out for a long, long time.
"But he's a world class fighter who lost to the pound-for-pound number one. He's a two-weight world champion.
"If he wants to carry on there's some big fights out there for him. He may feel he has got to a stage where he's been there, he's done it, he's seen it all. We'll back him 100%."
- Thomas Blow
SILLY BILLY
Saunders tried to taunt Canelo with the 'Tyson Fury tongue' before being smashed up and sent to hospital.
The British super-middleweight took a leaf out of his close pal's textbook by sticking out his tongue during his title fight.
- Thomas Blow
IN THE EU-BANK
Chris Eubank Jr landed a huge cash windfall after betting on Canelo Alvarez to stop Billy Joe Saunders – then called out the unified champ.
The British middleweight star stuck £10,000 on the Mexican to win the fight before it went the full 12 rounds.
And with odds of evens, he doubled his money when Saunders quit from his stool after the eighth.
In a video of him watching the moment BJS quit, Eubank Jr was in hysterics and called his fellow Brit a "wet bag".
Now a charity of his choice is on course for a bumper donation with Eubank promising to give the winnings away to a good cause.
- Thomas Blow
ANOTHER LOSS
Derek Chisora's dreadful week went from bad to worse last night as he lost £8,500 after Billy Joe Saunders was beaten by Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
The British heavyweight suffered a second successive defeat eight days ago when he was on the wrong end of a split decision against Joseph Parker.
But Chisora was hoping his fortunes would change yesterday when he backed Saunders to cause a huge upset by beating Alvarez.
Earlier this week, Del Boy showed off a 10,000 euro bet he had placed on Saunders.
It showed the potential winnings as 62,000 euros.
Yet it wasn't to be as Canelo fractured Saunders' orbital socket with an uppercut in the eighth round which lead to the Brit's trainer Mark Tibbs throwing in the towel before the start of the ninth.
- Thomas Blow
TAKING THE MAC
Conor McGregor appears to have mocked Billy Joe Saunders after the British boxer's corner threw in the towel at the end of the eighth round of his fight against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
The former WBO super-middleweight champion suffered a fractured orbital socket following an uppercut from Canelo, an injury which saw his right eye completely close up.
And Saunders' trainer Mark Tibbs decided to pull him out of the fight as a result, much to the disappointment of many boxing fans who had seen a thrilling fight up to that point.
UFC star McGregor had little sympathy – seemingly mocking Saunders with a picture of fellow MMA rival Nate Diaz.
The image was a bloodied shot of Diaz from UFC 202 when he and McGregor went to war for a second time.
Diaz's right eye was almost entirely closed but he fought on for the five rounds, only to lose to the Irishman on the scorecards.
- Thomas Blow
CANELO'S 15 BELTS
Canelo has now won a remarkable 15 world championship belts during his illustrious career.
The 30-year-old is a four-weight world champion and needs just the IBF belt – held by Caleb Plant – to complete his super-middleweight collection.
- Thomas Blow
PLANTING THE SEEDS?
What's next for Canelo after his victory against Saunders?
The only super middleweight belt he needs to complete his collection is the IBF one held by Caleb Plant.
The 28-year-old is undefeated in his 21 fights and has successfully defended his belt three times since winning it against Jose Uzcategui in 2019.
But is Plant up to the challenge?
Here is his reaction from last night…
- Thomas Blow
FURY PREDICTION
Tyson Fury's pre-fight prediction was half right – there was a masterclass in Texas.
Except it was Canelo who delivered the masterclass as he reaffirmed his status as one of the greats of the modern era.
Here's what Fury said before the fight…
- Thomas Blow
MORE CROWD SCRAPS
There was at least two fights in the crowd during the Canelo/Saunders bout.
What could they be possibly arguing about?
Do we need home and away sections for boxing matches now?
Incredible…
- Thomas Blow
WHAT A MOMENT
Here's that incredible uppercut from Canelo…
- Thomas Blow
FAN GETS TATTOO
A Billy Joe Saunders fan got a huge 31-0 back tattoo of the British boxer, anticipating he would defeat Canelo Alvarez.
The tattoo is of Saunders holding Canelo's decapitated head.
Is it easy to change a tattoo?
- Thomas Blow
BUT DUBOIS SUPPORTS BILLY JOE
Despite Saunders' comments last year, Dubois has backed his fellow Brit on Twitter.
- Thomas Blow
WORDS HAUNT SAUNDERS
Saunders has come under fire on Twitter after some comments he made about Daniel Dubois' eye injury.
The British heavyweight suffered the nasty injury during his defeat to Joe Joyce last year.
This is what Saunders, who suffered a similar injury last night, had to say…
- Thomas Blow
SAUNDERS SOAKS IT UP
Before Canelo broke his face, Saunders seemed to enjoy every moment of the biggest fight of his career to date.
The Brit was seen dancing in front of the crowd as he began his ring walk.
It wasn't meant to be for him on the night – will he get another chance?
- Thomas Blow
THE REAL FIGHT?
A brawl broke out during last night's fight between Canelo and Saunders.
It's unlikely any of these gents would stand a chance against world champ Canelo – or an injured Saunders, for that matter.
- Wally Downes Jr
KARMA?
A few fight fans believe the painful end to Billy Joe Saunders' night was comeuppance for his woeful treatment of a Mexican reporter.
The live ESPN broadcast during fight week was ruined by Saunders' childish 'humour'.
- Wally Downes Jr
ONE MORE BELT
Canelo now just needs the 12st IBF belt to complete the set of the four major crowns.
Caleb Plant has the red strap but Canelo has not been denied at 168lbs yet…
- Wally Downes Jr
RING OF FIRE
Boxing bible Ring Magazine took a spiteful shot at Billy Joe Saunders last night.
The mag has now apologised and is trying to work out who posted the mean message…
- Wally Downes Jr
BLACK AND BLUE
Tyson Fury will be disappointed with the defeat his friend Billy Joe Saunders suffered tonight.
And he was ringside in Dallas, Texas, with an eye injury of his own picked up sparring in his Las Vegas training camp.
Eddie Hearn claims the AJ undispited decider will be announced next week…
- Wally Downes Jr
CANEL-GO!
Demetrius Andrade gatecrashed Canelo's post-fight victory press conference and demands a fight.
But the Mexican pound-for-pound king is not in the mood for games…
- Wally Downes Jr
GYPSY CODE
Heavyweight and friend Tom Little has defended Saunders' decison to surrender with the eye injury he suffered.
Little believes his frllow Traveller will bounce back…
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Tom Little (@tom_little23)
- Wally Downes Jr
PLANT THE SEED
IBF super-middlweight champion Caleb Plant has the one 12st belt missing from Canelo's ever-expanding collection.
And the American looks ready to face the pound-for-pound superstar…
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Caleb Plant (@calebplant)
- Wally Downes Jr
SWEARING WARNING
Demetrious Andrade, the WBO middleweight champion, just gatecrashed Canelo's press conference.
The tricky American southpaw asked the pound-for-pound king to fight him and got a spiteful x-rated reply…
- Wally Downes Jr
EAGLE-EYED ED
Hearn says: "You could see as soon as Canelo hit him that his eye socket was caved in.
"Billy went back to Mark Tibbs and said that he could not see and they have pulled him out of the fight.
"Because he couldn't see, the next round would have been a dangerous situation."
- Wally Downes Jr
NOT THE RESPONCE I WANTED
Billy Joe Saunders went back to his corner after round eight with a nasty bruise around his eye.
Trainer Mark Tibbs asked him if he felt he continue and it seems Saunders said no…
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