We’ve all woken up with regrets on a Sunday morning, but this is on a different level
A diehard Billy Joe Saunders fan will probably be regretting his decision to get a tattoo of the Englishman toppling Canelo Alvarez, following the Mexican’s win in Texas.
Saunders more than held his own in the clash up until the eighth round, when a blistering right hand from Canelo caused the Hatfield man to suffer a suspected fractured orbital bone.
As a result, Saunders’ corner pulled their man out of the fight, which handed victory to the jubilant Mexican in front of a packed out 73,000 crowd at the AT&T Stadium.
DAZN’s Chris Mannix had Saunders ahead on the scorecards as he started to use every inch of that 22-foot ring that caused so much drama in the build-up, and Canelo did seem to struggle to land that right hand detonator.
Billy Joe Saunders was rocked by a devastating right hand from Canelo, which reportedly shattered his orbital bone. (Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)Eventually, however, Canelo did land it. And boy did Saunders feel the pain.
Attempting to roll the Mexican’s left hook, Saunders instead laid his chin on a plate for an absolutely destructive right-hand uppercut from the red-haired power puncher, and his right eye instantly blackened.
When the round ended, he struggled to open his eye and could be seen in the corner mouthing “no” to his trainers.
Trainer Mark Tibbs then informed the referee that he was pulling Billy Joe Saunders out of the fight.
Eddie Hearn said Saunders is now set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
“He’s gone to hospital and I believe he’ll have that operated on immediately. So he’s going to be out for a long, long time.”
Many have asked whether Saunders will be questioning his boastfulness going into the fight, or the fact he previously criticised Daniel Dubois for pulling out of his fight with Joe Joyce due to a similar injury.
Boxing is all about bravado, however.
One man certainly regretting his actions will be a Billy Joe Saunders superfan who had a large back tattoo of the Hatfield man holding Canelo’s severed head in victory.
https://twitter.com/NoContextHearn/status/1391118955637612544?s=20
The unnamed man, who had the tattoo done in the build up to Saturday’s fight, can be seen on video bragging about Saunders’ pending takedown of the pound-for-pound number one, complete with a God Save The Queen backing track.
On the tattoo itself, Saunders is depicted holding Canelo’s severed head aloft with ’31-0′ written beneath.
The man ends the video by stating: “Come on Billy, up the Gypsies! F***ing pull his head off, the f***ing dosser.”
