Alvarez crushes Yildirim to retain super middleweight crown

MIAMI – Saul “Canelo” Alvarez demolished Turkey’s Avni Yildirim in three rounds to retain his WBC and WBA super middleweight titles by knockout on Saturday.

Mexico’s Alvarez dominated underdog Yildirim from the opening bell and sent the Turk crashing to the canvas with a crisp left-right combination in the third round at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

The outclassed Yildirim then failed to emerge from his corner for the fourth round as Alvarez once again demonstrated why he is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.

“I wanted to have a great fight here and I did what I had to do,” Alvarez said.

“I needed a knockout and that’s what I did. It doesn’t matter if they’re…