With Information from Keith Idec.

LOS ANGELES  - Today Canelo Alvarez visited specialist Dr. Pedro Jaime Lomeli, after injuring his right hand during his ninth round knockout victory over Liam "Beefy" Smith to win the WBO Junior Middleweight World Championship on September 17, 2016.

After taking x-rays and conducting a CT scan, the doctor found an avulsion fracture of the right thumb. Canelo does not need surgery and the prognosis is excellent.

Canelo's hand will be immobilized for the next six weeks, and he will be unable to fight again in 2016.

This does nothing to Canelo's plans to move up and take on the best in the middleweight division next year.

Assuming his hand injury heals correctly, Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) likely will return to the ring May 6, the day after Cinco de Mayo, at an undetermined site. Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) is more than willing to fight Alvarez on that day, but Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter, has indicated Alvarez won’t seriously consider facing the IBF/WBCWBA champion in a highly anticipated showdown until next September.

On Mexican Independence Weekend, Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) was crowned the new WBO Junior Middleweight World Champion in front of a record breaking crowd of 51,240 roaring fans at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Canelo established himself as a ticket seller king breaking AT&T Stadium's previous record of 50,994 for a boxing event established by Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey in 2010. 

The show started off with a bang as pyrotechnic displays were incorporated into the fighters' ring walks in celebration of the festive Mexican holiday. At the start of the fight, both Canelo and Smith (23-1-1, 13 KOs) of Liverpool, England came out aggressively at each other in an exciting battle of power and wits. As the fight progressed, both fighters went back and forth exchanging combinations of face and body shots.

In the beginning of the seventh round, Canelo dropped Smith with an overhand right to the head first time in the Brit's career. In the eighth round, Liam was knocked down again by a body shot and finally, at 2:28 in the ninth round, Canelo secured himself another world title as he landed straight power hit to Smith's liver, immobilizing the fighter.