Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders are set to do battle this weekend in one of the most highly-anticipated Super Middleweight title unifications in years.
Four-weight world champion, Canelo (55-1-2, 37 KOs) puts his WBA ‘Super’, WBC and Ring Magazine world titles on the line, whilst two-weight world champion, Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) has his WBO crown at stake in Texas.
The build-up has not been short of drama, with Saunders, the betting underdog demanding a bigger ring at the beginning of the week, before threatening to fly home if the issue was not resolved.
The two teams clashed prior to Alvarez agreeing to the Brit and his team’s demands of a 22ft ring and the pair exchanged words at the face-off on Wednesday after Saunders initially missed the scheduled first face-off on Tuesday, due to the ring issue.
Should the Hatfield man pull off the upset, it will be regarded as one of the biggest victories from a British fighter home or away, with Canelo widely seen as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, with only one defeat on his record to Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013.
Canelo has beaten six Brits including Matthew Hatton, Amir Khan, Liam Smith and most recently Callum Smith in December and the 30-year-old stopped Avni Yildirim in three rounds in February.
WBC Heavyweight world champion, Tyson Fury arrived in Dallas on Wednesday to support his long-time friend and has been vocal in his beliefs that Saunders, who overcame Martin Murray in December, will dethrone the Mexican great.
Canelo vs Saunders- Date, Venue, Start Time & Ring Walks
- Canelo and Saunders will clash on Saturday 8 May 2021 at the AT & T Stadium – the home of Dallas Cowboys – in front of an expected 70,000 fans at the AT & T Stadium – the biggest post-pandemic capacity.
- The undercard will begin at 11pm BST on Saturday evening and DAZN will be streaming the card from 1am BST on Sunday morning.
- Canelo and Saunders are set to ring walk from 4am BST on Sunday morning.
Canelo vs Saunders – How to watch the fight
- Canelo vs Saunders will be broadcast exclusively on DAZN worldwide.
- UK viewers can sign up to the streaming service for £1.99 a month.
Last Three Fights
Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez bt Avni Yildirim – 3rd round RTD
Canelo Alvarez bt Callum Smith – UD
Canelo Alvarez bt Sergey Kovalev – 11th round KO
Billy Joe Saunders
Billy Joe Saunders bt Martin Murray – UD
Billy Joe Saunders bt Marcelo Esteban Coceres – 11th round KO
Billy Joe Saunders bt Shefat Isufi – UD
Undercard
- Elwin Soto vs Katsunari Takayama – WBO Light Flyweight world title
- Kieron Conway vs Souleymane Cissokho – WBA Inter-Continental Super Welterweight title
- Frank Sanchez vs Nagy Aguilera – WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight title
- Christian Alan Gomez Duran vs Xavier Wilson
- Keyshawn Davis vs Jose Antonio Meza
- Marc Castro vs Irving Macias Castillo
- Kelvin Davis vs Jan Marsalek
Press Conference Quotes
“He’s a great fighter, he has a lot of ability and he’s a southpaw,” Alvarez said during Thursday’s press conference.
“I’m not the same fighter I was six or seven years ago, this Saturday I will show that.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of big fights and this is just another day at the office. I come to win, like I said boxing is my life and I come here to win.”
“I don’t think we’ve had somebody come to win for a very long time,” Saunders said during Thursday’s press conference.
“We’ve had a lot of people turn up, collect cheques and fly out but we haven’t had the heart, soul and IQ that I’ll bring to the ring on Saturday night to win.
“I can’t talk what he’s done down, he’s done brilliant things for boxing. He’s a good champion but like I said, there’s a time in life where you get tested, sometimes when you forget where come from and forget all those hard things that’s brought you to where you’re at sometimes that can make it difficult on yourself.
“I think he’s going to be bumping into the wrong man Saturday night to be going home with titles. I’m looking forward to a very good fight but most definitely the win.”
