Canelo Álvarez defends super middleweight titles after Avni Yıldırım retires on stool – live!

A beaten-down Avni Yıldırım did not even give his trainer a chance to make good on his threat, failing to answer to the bell for the fourth round. The referee calls a halt to the bout and Canelo Álvarez retains his WBA and WBC super middleweight titles by third-round technical knockout.

Álvarez is picking away the challenger with body shots, one after another. And Canelo lands a left-right combo upstairs and down goes Yıldırım! He makes it to his feet quickly and tries to laugh it off but he’s in trouble with more than half the round to go! Yıldırım is in full retreat as Canelo moves in patiently to try and close the show. After the bell, Yıldırım’s trainer screams at his charge: “I’m going to stop the fight! I’m giving you one more fucking round!”

Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 30-26 Yıldırım (Álvarez 10-8 Yıldırım)

Round 2

Canelo lands a left uppercut that whips the crowd into a frenzy. Yıldırım still not throwing and presenting a stationary target for the champion, who’s opening up more and putting more punches in combination in the first minute of the second round. He lands a devastating left hand to the liver. And another. Now a right to the midsection, well beneath the high shell of Yıldırım. An educated uppercut-left hook combination by Álvarez that belongs in a museum. It’s not immediately apparent what the challenger’s strategy is, because this has been little but target practice so far.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 20-18 Yıldırım (Álvarez 10-9 Yıldırım)

Round 1

Yıldırım tried to touch gloves after the opening bell but Canelo wasn’t having it. A measured opening minute for both fighters as they feel one another out while circling in the center of the ring. Canelo is landing the occasional shot beneath Yıldırım’s guard to the ribs. Yıldırım hasn’t landed anything at all through the first two minutes. Canelo opening up a bit more to the midsection, setting it up with the uppercut to Yıldırım’s high guard, while still more radio silence from the challenger. An uncharacteristically slow start for Yıldırım, who’s been known for his aggressive starts in the past. An easy round for Álvarez and he didn’t have to do a whole lot to notch it.

Guardian’s unofficial score: Álvarez 10-9 Yıldırım (Álvarez 10-9 Yıldırım)

A team of cleaners in full hazmat suits has finished their work of sanitizing the ring and Michael Buffer is at the microphone for the announcements. The national anthems of Turkey, Mexico and the United States follow and finally the fighters are making their entrances. Here comes the Turkish challenger, wearing a white robe with red trim and pounding his heart with his right fist while saluting the crowd.

And now it’s Canelo’s turn. The overwhelming crowd (and betting) favorite makes his way to the squared circle as a full performance by South American reggaeton superstar J Balvin plays out on the stage. That’s what’s known in the business as a flex.

Canelo’s unanimous-decision win over Callum Smith in December ended a 13-month inactive spell, but the 30-year-old from Guadalajara plans on keeping a much busier schedule in 2021. He’s widely expected to have already booked a 8 May unification bout with WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders. His promoter Eddie Hearn just hinted at it on the telecast, saying the announcement could come as soon as tonight.

“It has been talked about, but there is nothing concrete,” said Álvarez, who was rendered idle for most of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a contract squabble. “First I want to go through this challenge and then explore what is next. But yes, we have had preliminary talks.

“I want to remain active. I enjoy what I do and work out in the gym. Fighting is my life. If everything goes well, we would like four fights this year.”

Hello and welcome to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium for tonight’s super middleweight championship fight between Canelo Álvarez and Avni Yıldırım. It’s the second outing in 70 days for Álvarez, boxing’s biggest star, who is fresh off a one-sided points win over Britain’s Callum Smith to win the WBA and Ring super middleweight championships and vacant WBC super middleweight title.

Yıldırım (21-2, 12 KOs) is not expected to offer much resistance. The 29-year-old from Turkey, who hasn’t boxed since a technical decision loss to Anthony Dirrell two years ago, is going off as a 15-1 underdog and is only here because he’s the mandatory challenger to Álvarez’s WBC title.

For Álvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs), there’s plenty of risk and little reward until he can move forward toward his goal of unifying the belts at 168lbs against the division’s other two champions: Britain’s Billy Joe Saunders, who owns the WBO title, and Caleb Plant, the unbeaten American who holds the IBF strap.

“I respect all fighters and the challenge I have in front of me,” Alvarez said this week. “I know what Yildirim brings. He is a strong fighter with plenty of desire to win. I come with the same mindset of winning, doing my job and continuing to make history.”

McWilliams Arroyo has just stopped late replacement Abraham Rodriguez in the fifth round to win the WBC flyweight interim title in the final undercard bout of the night, which means Álvarez and Yıldırım should be making their ringwalks shortly.