Canelo Alvarez managed to claim knockout victory against mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim. Alvarez needed only 3 rounds for that.
Yildirim’s corner threw in the towel at the end of the third round, and Alvarez picked up a TKO victory to retain his WBC and WBA super middleweight belts Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Canelo kicking these bums off stage. The disrespect man #CaneloYildirim pic.twitter.com/VkttjEuD0v
— Andres Mata (@andresxmata) February 28, 2021
After the fight, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn confirmed that Alvarez will face WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders in a unification bout on May 8 at a location to be determined.
“I wanted to have a great fight here,” Alvarez told the crowd, which was capped at 15,000 because of COVID-19 restrictions. “I needed to knock [him] out, and that’s what I did. That’s what I had to do.”
Canelo got J Balvin for the ring walk 🔥 #CaneloYildirim #Canelo pic.twitter.com/Igi5aBuubU
— BroBible (@BroBible) February 28, 2021
“I want to make history,” Alvarez said in the postfight interview. “I want to be one of the best in the world.”
Punch Stats
PUNCHES | ALVAREZ | YILDIRIM |
---|---|---|
Total landed | 67 | 11 |
Total thrown | 168 | 105 |
Percent | 40% | 11% |
Jabs landed | 9 | 7 |
Jabs thrown | 69 | 87 |
Percent | 13% | 8% |
Power landed | 58 | 4 |
Power thrown | 99 | 18 |
Percent | 59% | 22% |
— Courtesy of CompuBox |