‘You don’t talk trash to Canelo’: Alvarez forces Saunders to quit on stool after VICIOUS uppercut in Texas title fight (VIDEO)

Mexican pound-for-pound great Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez added the WBO super middleweight title to his WBA and WBC crowns as he forced British rival Billy Joe Saunders to quit on his stool after eight rounds in Texas.

Following a build-up mired in rows over the ring size and behavior bordering on the disrespectful from Saunders, Alvarez was the man to unify the titles in front of 73,000 raucous fans at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The Mexican landed the decisive blow in the eighth round with a devastating uppercut which instantly left Saunders with a grotesquely swollen right eye.

Alvarez confidently raised his arms seconds after landing the shot, confident that he had crushed his opponent’s eye socket and ability to continue.

So it proved as Saunders’ team deemed him unable to come out for the ninth round, as he was rushed to hospital with a suspected broken eye socket while Alvarez added yet another title to his collection.

“I think I broke his cheek. The truth is I knew it,” Alvarez said in the ring afterwards.

“It's something very difficult to explain. I don't have words, the emotion I feel for all the people who have come out," the Mexican added in front of the bumper indoor crowd for an event taking place on the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend in his homeland.

“The motivation they give me to continue on is very difficult to explain."

A record indoor crowd enjoyed the action under the roof at the AT&T Stadium. © USA Today Sports

Alvarez, 30, was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with two judges having it 78-74 in favor of the Mexican and one slightly closer at 77-75.

Despite being dominated by the intensity of Alvarez in the early rounds, there was the feeling that Saunders was starting to make some inroads in the middle stages of the fight.

Alvarez, however, never seemed flustered and the telling uppercut which decided the fight was gloriously – and spitefully – executed.  

“His eye socket was caved in, he couldn’t see. I didn’t get the response I wanted from him. It’s frustrating really because I felt he was growing into it,” said Saunders’ coach Mark Tibbs afterwards.

Alvarez handed the brash Brit a first defeat in his 31-fight career, while the Mexican’s only blemishes in his remarkable 59 fights remain the decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and two draws – one of which came against Kazakh star Gennady Golovkin in 2017.

That was the last time Alvarez failed to taste victory inside the ring, and attentions immediately turned to capturing the one super middleweight title not in his grasp – the IBF belt held by American Caleb Plant.

Alvarez said that was the fight which made sense next, ominously warning Plant “I’m coming my friend.”

For Saunders, 31, and his entourage – including world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury – it was a bitter end to a night which had been preceded by goading words from the Brit and his team towards their Mexican rivals, as well as accusations of disrespect to members of the foreign press.

READ MORE: Canelo challenger Saunders taunts boxing superstar over failed drugs test, tells reporter his breath smells ‘like sh*t’ (VIDEO)

Many had speculated that Saunders’ southpaw stance might offer a puzzle to truly tax Alvarez, although in the end the Mexican found the answer in the form of a ferocious and perfectly-timed shot – as he so often does.

The online reaction hailed the Mexican – with some claiming Saunders got his medicine after the insult-laden build-up to the fight.

Others noted the destructive simplicity with which Alvarez goes about his business as he added another trinket to his growing list of accolades across four weight classes.