ARLINGTON, Texas -- Canelo Alvarez sent a firm message to Gennady Golovkin after knocking out Liam Smith in the ninth round Saturday night to win the WBO light middleweight championship before a record crowd of 51,240 at AT&T Stadium.
Alvarez dropped Smith with a big left hand to the body to remain on pace for a showdown with undefeated, unified middleweight champion Golovkin, which could be held by September 2017.
“First of all, I want to say I told you I was going to give a great fight and get the championship and here it is. I started going after him, but in the second round I hurt my hand. I hurt my right hand and had to use the left more often. There was some disparity but that’s what happened. I felt he was very strong in the beginning so I had to put the body work and felt he would dwindle, that’s how I did my job. I give big punches with my body shots, and I enjoyed it very much," Canelo said.
The large crowd for the 26-year-old Alvarez (48-1-1) on Mexico's Independence weekend will keep the home of the Dallas Cowboys in the running for Canelo-Golovkin.
Alvarez's blistering pace of right uppercuts took its toll, as he knocked down Smith (23-1-1) in the eighth before finishing him in the next round.
Smith also went down after an uppercut in the seventh. He nodded his head wanting to return by the count of five after the first two before the Mexican star stopped him.
Canelo then dropped a bombshell during his post-fight interview with HBO, claiming Golovkin rejected an offer to fight him a month ago.
"I fear no man. I am the best fighter in this. About a month ago, we offered GGG three or four times as much to make the fight. We are ready for him and he doesn’t want to accept. As I said, we are a team and I fear no one. I fight the best and I want to fight the best, I am the best at this sport and Viva La Mexico,” Canelo said.
