What injury did Saunders suffer?
Saunders, 31, suffered a quadripod fracture to his orbital bone.
He was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas after the fight and is due to undergo surgery later today.
“He’s going to be out for a long, long time,” Eddie Hearn commented after the fight.
The injury is similar to those suffered by the former IBF welterweight world champion Kell Brook. Brook first sustained a fractured eye socket in his 2016 defeat by Gennady Golovkin and then suffered a repeat injury to the opposite eye in his 2017 loss to Errol Spence Jr.
The young British heavyweight Daniel Dubois also suffered a broken orbital bone in his loss to Joe Joyce last year. Saunders remarked after that fight that “before I go on one knee I’d like to go out on my back with my pulse stopped”.
What was the reaction?
After being caught by Alvarez’s uppercut in the eighth, Saunders was struggling to open his eye and could be seen mouthing “no” to his corner. His trainer Mark Tibbs then informed the referee that he was pulling Saunders out of the fight.
Alvarez told his trainer Eddy Reynoso after the round that there was no way Saunders would come out for round 9 because he “broke his cheek”.
After the fight Alvarez said: “When you break a cheekbone you can risk your life and you can’t continue that way.”
What next for Canelo?
Almost certainly Caleb Plant, who holds the one 168-pound title Canelo doesn’t own.
Hearn said Canelo-Plant is the only fight to make when Alvarez returns in September, and it’s been the matchup Canelo has targeted for months.
“Caleb Plant to go for the belt,” Canelo said. “I’m coming my friend.”
A victory over Plant — and Canelo will be a massive favourite — would establish Alvarez as the first undisputed super middleweight champion in history. The question now: on what platform will the fight take place.
Canelo is a network and promotional free agent, but he has a great relationship with Hearn, landing his last three fights under the Matchroom banner on DAZN. Plant, though, is with Al Haymon and PBC, which has network deals with Showtime and FOX; that could return Alvarez to pay-per-view for the first time since 2018.
(Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)
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