Avni Yildirim's championship dream came to a close in three rounds.

On Saturday night, the Turkish challenger was overwhelmed by Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in their mandatory clash for the World Council and World Boxing Association super middleweight titles at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

Yildirim was constantly punished the body and head until the end of the fight.

In the third round, after a complete domination in the second, Canelo opened Yildirim's guard and landed a powerful right hand that sent the challenger to the canvas.

Joel Diaz, the trainer of Yildirim, felt the time was right to stop fight - when his boxer returned to the corner.

"The first round I watched him start to pick up a little rhythm, he was more cautious in his defense, the second round I thought he was going to loosen his hands a little more," Diaz said to ESPN Deportes.

"After the knockdown in the third round he never recovered. He got up, he was in good condition, but the goal of the trainer is to take care of him. Canelo is a great fighter, the truth is, he has many tools, he's fast, he's very confident and hits hard. "

According to Diaz, Yildirim returned to the corner after surviving the round but he was unresponsive and the veteran coach preferred not to risk further punishment by sending him out there.

"When Yildirim went down, he got up and when he got to the corner with me I asked him some questions and he didn't answer me," Diaz said.

"He was hurt and before the bell rang to start the next round I asked him the questions again and when he didn't answer me, he was totally gone and I said 'there is no point'. The truth is, in the next round Canelo was going to hurt him."

"The trainers have a very great responsibility. I know Canelo was going to improve, he was getting stronger round by round and Yildirim felt the punches. After Canelo hurt him, he was not going to recover."