Canelo Alvarez

Super middleweight world boxing champion Canelo Alvarez didn't seem too impressed following the boxing exhibition match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Logan Paul on Sunday:

🤦🏼‍♂️

— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) June 7, 2021

Paul's brother, Jake, didn't take kindly to Alvarez's tweet, firing one off himself:

you can’t sell PPV’s

I would eat you alive https://t.co/oo4qiufrZS

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 7, 2021

It's unknown why Alvarez tweeted the facepalm emoji, although there are a few notable possibilities.

For starters, the match tape itself won't find itself in the Boxing Hall of Fame.

There were a lot of hugs and missed punches over the duration of the bout, which was an eight-round exhibition match.

Here are the stats from the #FloydvsLogan bout 👀 pic.twitter.com/PSdeUqIIwI

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) June 7, 2021

There were no judges, but a win was possible via knockout. That did not occur.

Paul also somehow went the distance against Mayweather, who won all 50 of his professional fights during a decorated boxing career.

Paul, an American YouTube personality, has only one professional fight under his belt (a loss to English YouTuber KSI). He did have the distinct height and weight advantage over Mayweather, however.

As for Alvarez, the 30-year-old is now 56-1-2 lifetime after defeating Billy Joe Saunders in May. His lone loss in 59 professional fights was to Mayweather via majority decision in September 2013.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. knows who he wants as the next man up on his calendar. 

Chavez, the son of Hall of Fame boxer Julio Cesar Chavez, wants a rematch of his May 2017 bout against Alvarez, to whom he fell by unanimous decision after 12 rounds. Chavez Jr., who is 52-5-1, thinks he has a better chance at a win in a hypothetical rematch. 

Before he can look ahead to that, he'll have to get past Anderson Silva. Chavez Jr. is slated to fight the MMA star on June 19. 

“Of course I want to have [a Canelo rematch] on my mind," he told TMZ Sports through an interpreter (30-second mark). "That’s what makes this fight such a big deal for me. It’s gonna give me an opportunity to get these rematches with Canelo or Danny Jacobs.”

Chavez Jr. also said that he believes he'll come up victorious in that fight against Silva, predicting he'll send him packing after the fourth round. 

Canelo Alvarez and longtime girlfriend Fernanda Gomez were married over the weekend.

The World Boxing Organization posted a photo from the ceremony and congratulated the couple.

"The WBO Family wishes lots of love and happiness to the recently married couple, Unified WBO Super Middleweight Champion Saúl 'Canelo' Alvarez and Fernanda Gomez," the WBO said on Instagram.

Alvarez's wedding came a week after he earned a TKO victory over Billy Joe Saunders. The super middleweight champion and Gomez have been dating since 2016 and have a daughter, Maria, who was born in 2017. 

After reports his career could be in jeopardy after suffering an eye injury in Saturday's TKO loss to Canelo Alvarez, Billy Joe Saunders reassured fans Monday that he is not done fighting.

Saunders provided an update on his status via social media (h/t TMZ Sports): "Operation yesterday all went well. You win some and lose some."

He also added, "I'll be back."

Mike Coppinger of The Athletic previously reported Saunders suffered a quadripod fracture to his orbital bone in the bout, which was stopped after eight rounds. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said Saunders will need "several months" of recovery time, and there is no guarantee he will be able to resume his career.

However, it appears Saunders is looking to continue fighting.

Alvarez was ahead 78-74 on two cards and 77-75 on another at the time of the stoppage. The victory was a super middleweight unification bout.

Saunders' trainer, Mark Tibbs, said it was his decision to stop the fight after the WBO super middleweight champion said he could not see out of his eye.

"He's a young man," Tibbs told ESPN's Ben Baby. "He's got a family. He's got children. I've known him a very, very long time. He lives to fight another day."

The Briton entered Saturday's bout with a 30-0 career record and gave Alvarez a challenge before an eighth-round uppercut completely shifted the tone of the fight. Should he make a full recovery, the 31-year-old has plenty of prime years of boxing left in his career.

However, his health is paramount at the moment. 

If Canelo Alvarez has his way, Caleb Plant will be his next opponent.

Promoter Eddie Hearn said a matchup with Plant is the "only fight" Alvarez wants to entertain.

"It's the only fight," Hearn said Saturday after Alvarez's TKO win over Billy Joe Saunders. "I hope Caleb Plant feels the same way."

Alvarez, who was ahead 78-74 on two cards and 77-75 on the third through eight rounds before the stoppage, captured the WBO super middleweight title from Saunders and is one title away from being the undisputed champion in the division.

Plant has held the IBF super middleweight title since defeating Jose Uzcategui in January 2019.

"That's the plan," Alvarez said in the ring when asked whether he plans to fight Plant next. "That's the plan, to go for the belt. I'm coming, man. I'm coming for the belt. I hope that fight is made easy and we give the fans that fight."

Plant previously stated his desire to fight Alvarez in September.

Canelo Alvarez didn't think much of Billy Joe Saunders after an eighth-round TKO victory Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"It was not as difficult as I expected," Alvarez said of the fight, per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

The 30-year-old caused significant damage to his opponent's eye during the fight, leading to a technical knockout before the start of the ninth round:

This uppercut gave Canelo the win 😤#CaneloSaunders

(via @DAZNBoxing) https://t.co/10odujcSBs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2021

CANELO KNEW IT WAS OVER VS. SAUNDERS 🤯

Started taunting in the middle of the 8th round#CaneloSaunders

(via @daznboxing)pic.twitter.com/UDKWWGkv5X

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2021

"I think I broke his face," Alvarez said afterward.

Saunders came in unbeaten in 30 professional fights while holding the WBO super-middleweight title. Alvarez had little issue in the unification fight, landing 53 percent of his power punches compared to 26 percent from Saunders, per CompuBox (via Ben Baby of ESPN).

Canelo is now just a win over IBF champion Caleb Plant away from holding all four major belts in the 168-pound division.

Things did not go Billy Joe Saunders' way during his fight with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Saturday night. 

The referee stopped the bout after the eighth round because Saunders couldn't open his left eye because of the punishment it took. 

On the DAZN broadcast of the fight (h/t ESPN's Marc Raimondi), Superb was taken to a local hospital in Arlington, Texas, to have his eye looked at. 

Promoter Eddie Hearn told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix (h/t Michael Woods of TalkBox) that Saunders "busted his eye socket."

The decisive blow was an uppercut to the eye delivered by Canelo late in the eighth round:

https://twitter.com/DAZNBoxing/status/1391247089087156226

Saunders' trainer, Mark Tibbs, refused to let his fighter go back out for the ninth when he admitted between rounds that he couldn't see. 

Saturday night marked the biggest fight of Saunders' career. The 31-year-old was fighting for the unified super middleweight titles against arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. 

Even though Saunders came up short, he did provide Canelo with a strong challenge through the first seven rounds. It marked the first loss in 30 fights during his professional career. 

Saunders lost the WBO super middleweight title in the process. 

Canelo is unbeaten in his last 15 fights since losing by majority decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2013. The 30-year-old is 2-0 this year with wins over Saunders and Avni Yildirim.

Canelo Alvarez is one step closer to his goal of fully unifying the super middleweight division. The Mexican superstar added the WBO world title to his collection on Saturday night, defeating Billy Joe Saunders by an eighth-round technical knockout at a packed AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

The fight was close and competitive in the middle rounds, but some vicious punches from Alvarez in the eighth visibly hurt Saunders, whose right eye swelled up and closed. Saunders was unable to get off his stool and go out for the ninth round. 

This uppercut gave Canelo the win 😤#CaneloSaunders

(via @DAZNBoxing) https://t.co/10odujcSBs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2021

Alvarez said he knew the damage was done, per The Athletic's Mike Coppinger:

Canelo says he told Eddy Reynoso “I know he’s not coming out because I broke his cheek.” That right uppercut with Billy Joe crouched absolutely smashed him and instantly shut his right eye. #CaneloSaunders

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 9, 2021

The judges all had Alvarez ahead at the time of the stoppage, per DAZN Boxing:

The Scorecards 👀 #CaneloSaunders pic.twitter.com/9uzab7evNd

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 9, 2021

Alvarez now holds the WBO, WBA and WBC titles at 168 pounds. His next target appears to be set.

"The plan is to go for all the belts, I'm coming for Caleb Plant," Alvarez said after the win, per the DAZN broadcast. Plant, who is undefeated, has held the IBF belt since 2019. 

Alvarez was a solid favorite going into the match, but some felt Saunders' awkward, southpaw style might give him fits. Alvarez did start off slowly, throwing just a handful of thudding left hands to the body in the first round, while the twitchy Saunders kept busy with the jab.

Both fighters picked up steam in the second, with Alvarez moving forward more aggressively and using feints to get in range. He did well to change levels with his punches, while Saunders tried to circle away from Alvarez's powerful right hand. Ring's Ryan Songalia liked the early work from Alvarez: 

Canelo is taking Saunders apart in a way I didn’t expect him to do, at least not this early. The power gap is massive for Canelo #CaneloSaunders

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) May 9, 2021

DAZN Boxing showed off some of Alvarez's great reflexes on the defensive side: 

Canelo's head movement is already on point 💨 pic.twitter.com/snsNewb6YE

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 9, 2021

Saunders' own head movement saved him from some debilitating punches as Alvarez stepped up his attacks  in the fourth round. His power shots, especially those to the body, kept Saunders from going on the front foot,  although the latter looked more fluid and comfortable than he did in the first nine minutes. A left hook caught Alvarez's attention, per DAZN Boxing: 

Billy Joe Saunders ain't backing down 😤#CaneloSaunders pic.twitter.com/3urLouxZDz

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 9, 2021

The sixth saw Saunders do a good job of blocking the left-handed body punches that gave him trouble in the early rounds. It allowed him to stick Alvarez with his own counters, breaking up the favorite's forward momentum.  

Women's boxing champion Claressa Shields felt this was the best showing from an Alvarez opponent since Gennady Golovkin:

What a round this is what you call a fight! I have not seen give anyone give Canelo a fight since GGG

— Claressa Gwoat Shields (@Claressashields) May 9, 2021

After some close rounds, Alvarez roared back in the eighth. He clipped Saunders multiple times, including a devastating right uppercut, and the latter's right eye swelled up quickly. Saunders, who had looked loose and confident for a few rounds with a lower guard, went back into his shell and went into survival mode for the final minutes or so of the round. He wasn't able to get out of his corner.

After the fight, promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed Saunders "couldn't see out of his eye" after the eighth round. He also said the plan is for Alvarez to fight Plant next, which would give him a shot at unifying all four major titles in the super-middleweight division. 

Canelo Alvarez is open to a third fight with Gennadiy Golovkin, but under one condition.

The star, who is readying to fight Billy Joe Saunders for the super middleweight title on Saturday, wants to remain at that weight in any rematch with Golovkin. 

“If the [GGG] fight happens after unifying at 168 pounds, I’m open to anything, but it would be at 168 pounds,” Canelo said, per Mike Coppinger of The Athletic. “ … If [Golovkin] wants to fight with me he has to do it at 168. Why wouldn’t he do it? I went up from 154 to 160 to fight with him.”

The rivalry between Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) and Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) dates back to 2017, when the pair fought to a draw. In the rematch in 2018, Alvarez was crowned the winner by decision. 

Both of those fights were at 160 pounds, the middleweight limit. 

The 39-year-old Golovkin, who has defeated every fighter he has faced with the exception of Alvarez, has no fights on his schedule right now, something that Alvarez told reporters should work out in favor of scheduling the third fight. 

But before anything can get scheduled on that front, Alvarez must face Saunders. The winner will come away with three of the four major belts, with the fourth currently belonging to Caleb Plant. 

Plant is the favorite to fight Alvarez in September, according to Coppinger.