By: Hans Themistode
An epiphany of sorts hit Mikey Garcia. The former four-division world champion sat ringside this past weekend at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas as unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez dominated Billy Joe Saunders, causing the British native to retire on his stool at the end of round eight. After their showdown, it was revealed that Saunders suffered a quadripod fracture and is now facing an uncertain future.
With the super middleweight division filled with several top-level fighters, the weight class is commonly regarded as one of the deepest in all of boxing. Still, despite that, Garcia believes everyone else is fighting for second place as he doesn’t see anyone handing Alvarez a defeat anytime soon.
“I don’t think anybody can beat him,” said Garcia during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “I think he’s the best one.”
Alvarez, 30, adjusted quickly to the box first approach of Saunders as he quietly stalked his man in the opening round. After successfully evading most of the Mexican star’s deleterious shots during the first half, Alvarez found what he was looking for as he landed a huge right uppercut that effectively ended the night.
Regardless of the one-sided nature of their contest, Garcia tips his cap in the direction of Saunders. Although Alvarez ultimately won, the slick southpaw made things a bit more interesting than most were expecting.
“Great performance,” said Garcia of Alvarez. “He had an answer for everything. Saunders had a little bit of success in the middle rounds but not enough to complicate things too much. I think Canelo did great.”
With Alvarez adding the WBO super middleweight belt previously held by Saunders to his WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine titles – the pound-for-pound star is only one title short of becoming the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all time. To do so, Alvarez will look to now take on IBF titlist, Caleb Plant.
The Nashville Tennessee native hasn’t backed down from his belief that no matter how great Alvarez is, the Mexican product will ultimately fall at his hands. In the opinion of Garcia, however, he simply doesn’t agree with that statement. While he acknowledges that Plant is a terrific fighter, he merely views Alvarez as someone on another level.
“Caleb needs to box tremendously all night, which he can, I’m not saying he can’t but I just think Canelo will have an answer for it.”
