Brutal Canelo Knockout of Liam Smith (Perfect Body Punch)

While Smith did not land that one great shot that would stun Alvarez, “Canelo” took to wearing the Englishman down with body shots.

Smith, blood streaming from a cut near his right eye, kept coming, but even his best shots weren’t enough to slow Alvarez, and he went down again in the eighth after a crunching left hook to his midriff. “I needed better timing, my timing was off tonight”.

The previously-unbeaten British fighter was reeling in agony after receiving the vicious blow from Alvarez, forcing referee Luis Pabon to step in and halt the contest at 2:48 of the ninth stanza.

At first, Smith (23-1-1, 13 KOs) began to trade with Alvarez, even though he was hurt.

(AP Photo/LM Otero). Liam Smith, left, falls to the mat after taking a body shot and being knocked out buy Canelo Alvarez fight during the ninth round of the WBO Junior Middleweight Championship boxing match at the stadium in Arlington, Texas, Saturday.

He’s won six fights in a row since suffering his lone defeat – a 12-round majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2013.

Of course, fans were clamoring for a mega-fight between Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin on this date – the biggest fight that can be made – but they settled for an entertaining, albeit mostly noncompetitive, bout with a 12-1 underdog. For his part, Smith said his timing was off and it would have been better if he waited a little bit more to test Alvarez’ skill and power. “There were some preliminary negotiations, we have a good relationship with (Golden Boy) so we hope we can make the fight”. I believe his people are going the Manny Pacquiao route and hyping him up as a feared beast on HBO but not willing to risk him by putting him in against Canelo or Ward. “I fight the best and I want to fight the best, I am the best at this sport and Viva La Mexico!”

Despite a recent middleweight reign that saw him win the linear title, Alvarez insisted on operating at 155lbs for his win over then-holder Miguel Cotto (W12) and for his defence against Amir Khan (W KO 6).

If the Canelo vs. Golovkin fight does happen, I have no doubt that Canelo can beat him.

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The 51,240 in attendance and the (???) watching on pay-per-view were treated to a fight rather than a showcase and, in that regard, the night ended exceeding expectations. The tentative earliest date to have a match is September 2017.