BILLY JOE SAUNDERS tried to taunt Canelo Alvarez with the ‘Tyson Fury tongue’ before being smashed up and sent to hospital.
The British super-middleweight took a leaf out of his close pal’s textbook by sticking out his tongue during his title fight.
He wiggled his tongue at Canelo as he wobbled his body after an exchange in the middle of the ring.
Fury did something very similar in his first fight with Deontay Wilder in December 2018 as he took control of the heavyweight showdown before recovering in the 12th to get a draw.
And then in the rematch 14 months later, the Gypsy King licked blood off Wilder’s neck before his stunning knockout win.
But unlike unbeaten Fury, Saunders could not back up his games because he was brutally destroyed by the Mexican champ who clearly didn’t find it funny.
Saunders more than held his own against the heavy favourite.
However, Canelo proved why he is the pound-for-pound king with a devastating uppercut that broke his opponent’s eye socket – and ensured there was no more taunting from the Hertfordshire fighter.
Saunders gave up at the end of the eighth round and his cockiness earlier on was made to look all the more foolish as he saw his WBO belt ripped away after his first career defeat.
Boxing fans piled in on him on social media.
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One wrote: “I knew when he started getting cocky he was gonna get caught. Canelo is the GOAT.
“When Fury did it, he knew he was fighting a guy who only knows how to swing and hope to land. (Wilder is a bum basically)”
Another replied to the video clip: “And then he got punched really hard in the face and then quit.”
A third added: “Probably should have paid more attention to the Tyson Fury technique instead of the taunt.”
One commented: “This aged well.”
And a final user quoted Jamie Vardy and wrote: “Chat s*** get banged.”
Saunders was hoping to go 31-0 in his pro career, with one superfan already getting a huge tattoo of the ‘win’ across his back before his hero stepped into the ring.
Instead it was the Brit who was slain with a smashed orbital bone.
Chris Eubank Jr mocked Saunders after he pulled out and shared a video laughing at the ‘wet bag’.
The 31-year-old had bet £10,000 on Canelo to win the fight inside the 12 rounds and promised to give his returns to charity.
And now Eubank is clearly eyeing a big step up by calling out the WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring super-middleweight king who now has 15 world title wins in his career.
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