Canelo Alvarez certainly didn’t blow Billy Joe Saunders away tonight in Texas, but did get a stoppage win after eight rounds, when the Saunders corner pulled the plug following an injury to the underdog’s right eye.
There was some question about how the fight was being scored, with rounds along the way that could have gone to Saunders (30-1, 14 KO) on activity and some solid, clever work, or to Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KO) on his heavier power shots, largely to the body but obviously a couple good ones upstairs, too.
Here are the official cards at the time of the stoppage:
https://twitter.com/DAZNBoxing/status/1391243086400000001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1391243086400000001%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.badlefthook.com%2F2021%2F5%2F9%2F22427002%2Fcanelo-vs-saunders-score-cards-all-three-judges-had-alvarez-leading-stoppage-dazn-boxing-news-2021
As you can see there, judges Glenn Feldman and Max DeLuca had it 78-74 for Canelo, and judge Tim Cheatham had it slightly closer, 77-75 for the new, further unified champion.
Scoring unofficially for Bad Left Hook, myself and Wil Esco both had it 77-75 for Canelo after the eight rounds.
The win means Canelo now holds the WBC, WBA, and WBO titles at super middleweight, with only the IBF title held by Caleb Plant not in his possession, and that’s the fight Alvarez wants next.
