Canelo Alvarez, left, knocked out Liam Smith (right) in the ninth round Saturday in Arlington, Texas/Photo by Getty Images

Canelo Alvarez of Mexico on Saturday night once again became a world champion in the junior middleweight division when he knocked out champion Liam Smith of England in the ninth round of their bout before an announced crowd of 51,240 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) decked Smith (23-1-1) three times on his way to victory – the last two times from body shots.

Smith was making his third defense.

Alvarez previously held a title at this weight from 2011-2013. He lost his two titles to Floyd Mayweather, eventually moving up to fight for, and win, a middleweight title. He vacated that title rather than unify it with Gennady Golovkin, then moved back down to challenge Smith.

Also on this card, Joseph Diaz Jr. of South El Monte stopped Andrew Cancio (17-4-2) of Blythe in the ninth round of their featherweight bout. Diaz (22-0, 13 KOs) is ranked as high as No. 3 by one organization.