Billy Joe Saunders Reflects On Loss To Canelo Alvarez

Billy Joe Saunders has taken the time to look back on his defeat to Canelo Alvarez.

Back in May, Saunders put the WBO Super-Middleweight Title on the line against Canelo. Alvarez went into the bout as the WBC, WBA, and The Ring Super-Middleweight Champion. Saunders was quite competitive in the bout but he ended up being stopped via TKO before the ninth round could begin.

During an interview with iFL TV, Saunders discussed his efforts against Canelo (h/t BoxingScene.com).

“I think that, you know, the thing with me is that I don’t make excuses. Every camp you go through injuries and bits and bobs – the complete bottom line of it is this: I got beaten by the better man on that night. People can say, ‘oh, yeah, he was up big,’ but the main thing is winning, and Canelo won.

“If I get beaten by the better man I can always live with that. And on that night he was the better man. That’s all I can say.”

As far as what led to his eye injury goes, Saunders believes he could’ve prevented it in hindsight.

“I sort of got a little careless sort of thing, because I didn’t find no freaky power. I didn’t find something that really shocked me, you know? He hit me with a good shot. As soon as I got hit with that shot I just thought to myself, ‘Right, you’re wobbed.’ I thought my legs were gone or something. But I was bouncing around for 10 seconds and I realized, right, your legs aren’t there,’ and then I felt, ‘Bam!’ – touches right eye – all this went away. I could feel it all caved in a bit.

“Great fighters find great ways to win, and he’s a great fighter. I take my hat off to him. The only thing I can say is on that night the better man won.”