Jeffrey McWhorter/Associated Press
Billy Joe Saunders reportedly suffered a career-threatening eye injury in Saturday’s TKO loss to Canelo Alvarez.
Mike Coppinger of The Athletic reported Saunders suffered a quadripod fracture to his orbital bone in the bout, which was stopped after eight rounds. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said Saunders will need “several months” of recovery time, and there is no guarantee he will be able to resume his career.
Alvarez was ahead 78-74 on two cards and 77-75 on another at the time of the stoppage. The victory was a super middleweight unification bout.
Saunders’ trainer, Mark Tibbs, said it was his decision to stop the fight after the WBO super middleweight champion said he could not see out of his eye.
“He’s a young man,” Tibbs told ESPN’s Ben Baby. “He’s got a family. He’s got children. I’ve known him a very, very long time. He lives to fight another day.”
The Briton entered Saturday’s bout with a 30-0 career record and gave Alvarez a challenge before an eighth-round uppercut completely shifted the tone of the fight. Should he make a full recovery, the 31-year-old has plenty of prime years of boxing left in his career.
However, his health is paramount at the moment.