Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez took just three rounds to successfully defend his WBC and WBA super-middleweight titles against Turkish challenger Avni Yildirim in Florida.
The Mexican staged a dominant performance at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and secured victory moments before the fourth after his opponent retired.
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.
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, speaking through an interpreter, 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."
Alvarez (55-1-2) was the lone fighter in the ring pressing the action in the first three rounds. Early in the fight, Alvarez threw looping hooks around Yildirim's high guard and pelted the Turkish fighter's body.
