Canelo Alvarez punches Billy Joe Saunders during their fight for Alvarez’s WBC and WBA super middleweight titles and Saunders’ WBO super middleweight title at AT&T Stadium on May 08, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
Billy Joe Saunders said he is considering retirement following last month’s loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
The 31-year-old British boxer suffered a fractured right orbital bone during the super middleweight unification bout on May 8 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“He’s a world-class fighter and he caught me with a world-class shot, so you’ve gotta give the man that credit and respect,” Saunders told talkSPORT.com in an interview published Thursday.
Saunders’ corner ended the vicious fight after the eighth round and he lost for the first time in his career, falling to 30-1 with 14 knockouts.
“I went into surgery. I had a broken eye socket. It was broken in three places,” he said. “I’ve got some plates. I’m like Terminator now, they’ve got me full of metal.”
Saunders said he isn’t sure if he’ll fight again when his injuries heal, saying it would have to be “the right fight.”
“At the end of the day, I’m 31 years old. If I don’t ever want to work again, want to sit back, want to chill — I can do that,” he said. “And so it should be. I’ve put a lot of time into boxing and I’ve paid my dues. The sport’s been very, very good to me …
“I’m 31, I haven’t took no punishment. I haven’t been battered from pillar to post, brain dead and can’t put a sentence together, so I need to sit back and look at my options.”