Mark Tibbs reveals it was him who pulled Billy Joe Saunders out vs Canelo Alvarez after eye injury! There has been a lot of chatter regarding the anti-climatic conclusion of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez v Billy Joe Saunders super middleweight unification bout. The fight, which was ultra competitive, came to a screeching end following the 8th round. Former WBO Super Middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders elected not to continue on after sustaining a broken orbital bone.
Many people are split on whether or not the British champion tucked his tail, ran and quit in the biggest fight of his career. Or, was he justified to stand down on his stool, considering the magnitude and dangerousness of his injury? Well, his head trainer Mark Tibbs has come out and said it was he who took the decision away from his fighter.
Tibbs said the following to Boxing Social about his decision to stop the fight:
“I took a look at him, I took a very quick look at him, and I wasn’t happy with his body language and it was the only thing to do. It was the only thing to do…you know because this is a dangerous business against a pound for pound great. I was frustrated. I would have loved to have left him in there, but look, it was his leading eye. So you can’t see nothing coming and it was a lot of pain there as well.”
WAS IT REALLY TIBBS CALL? It seems as if the decision to stop the fight came from Saunders himself, at least according to Eddie Hearn. He told Boxing Social what he perceived happened that resulted in the fight being stopped.
“I think he went back to the corner and said to Mark Tibbs he just can’t see, and they talked about having another round and Billy said he couldn’t see, and Mark pulled him out.”
Clearly, two different views on the way the bout went will only stir the pot more and raise more questions.
Regardless of what people will say or feel about the situation, it is clear that Saunders’ decision will be a hot topic for awhile. People will always question if he could have and should have continued to fight. It will be interesting to see what Saunders does moving forward.
