Turning in some of the most notable knockouts in middleweight limit history, Canelo Alvarez came under fire after inflicting one of the sport’s most gnarly injuries during a fight.
Launching spectacular finishes over the likes of Amir Khan, Liam Smith and his infamous finish of Billy Joe Saunders in their grudge match, Canelo has an immaculate record against British fighting talent.
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Also holding another notable victory over British star Rocky Fielding, whom he stopped with a third-round knockout to clinch the WBA super middleweight crown.
But against another Liverpool rival, Canelo prevailed — but not without some post-fight controversy.
Canelo Alvarez inflicted brutal injury on Callum Smith
Back in 2020, Canelo was matched with Callum Smith — having previously taken out his elder brother Liam with a ninth-round KO win four years prior to capture the WBO super middleweight crown.
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And returning to the super middleweight limit after his heralded light heavyweight title win over Sergey Kovalev, Canelo travelled to Texas to take on Callum Smith in a rekindling of his rivalry with the family.
Turning in a unanimous decision win to clinch the WBA, The Ring, and vacant WBC titles, Canelo would inflict a horror injury on Smith during the fight.
Accused of targeting the arms of Smith in the early goings of the bout, by the time the final round came around, the British star’s left arm had swelled beyond belief.
Suffering from a detached bicep, helped no end by Canelo’s stinging power shots, Smith was set for a spell on the sidelines.
Callum Smith accused Canelo Alvarez of intentionally injuring him
Going under the knife for the gruesome detached bicep injury, Smith would not return to the ring until nine months later, when he stopped Lenin Castillo before eventually matching with Artur Beterbiev in a light heavyweight title move.
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But in the aftermath of his decision loss to Canelo, Smith, who had seen his undefeated record broken, too, accused the Jalisco native of intentionally inflicting his unsightly injury.
“It was intentional. I knew from the first round that,” Smith told Boxing Social in 2020.
“I said to Joe in round one, ‘He’s (Canelo) aiming for my arm.’ Every right hook he was throwing, he was going for my arm.
“And then I think I said to Joe in round four or something, ‘My arm is f—–.'”