Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s first appearance in 2021 went just as he and his team had planned. The Mexican showed why he is the current number one pound-for-pound fighter on Saturday night by defeating Turkey’s Avni Yildirim in the fourth round to retain his World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Middleweight Super Championship and WBC belt.

The atmosphere was unbeatable. 15,000 people at the Dolphins stadium in Miami and a ruthless “Canelo” during the course of the fight were the perfect combination in a great night of boxing. Canelo showed what he is made of and combined body punches with strong hits to the face to dominate the entire fight and make the first defense of the black and gold belt.

The Guadalajara native started with an aggressive fight train and worked very well with his body punches to wear down the Turkish fighter’s humanity and in the third round he landed a straight right hand that sent the challenger to the canvas. Although he got up and was able to finish the round, he decided not to come out for the fourth round to seal Alvarez’s victory.

“I did what I had to do. I had to knock out and I knocked out. That’s what I had to do,” Canelo assured on the official DAZN broadcast after his victory.

The Mexican improved his record to 55 wins, 1 loss, 2 draws and 37 knockouts, while Yildirim dropped his record to 21 wins, 3 setbacks and 13 knockouts.