Promoter Eddie Hearn expects a very competitive fight when WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders steps in the ring with WBC, WBA champion Canelo Alvarez.
Their fight was officially announced on Saturday night and takes place on May 8th, as part of Cinco De Mayo weekend, at a location to be determined.
Canelo sealed the deal last night, when he crushed mandatory challenger Anvi Yildirim in three rounds at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Hearn is giving Saunders a very good shot at pulling off the upset, because of his very tricky style of boxing.
In the past, Canelo has had difficulties with good boxers like Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
However, Canelo is a far better fighter, and a lot more seasoned, than he was in those contests.
“Billy Joe Saunders for a long time has said he will beat Canelo Alvarez. He has the style to beat him. I’ll tell you one thing, I think if there’s anyone in the division that will beat or could beat Canelo, it’s Billy Joe Saunders — because he has the style and the movement and he has something different in his head,” Hearn told Fight Hub.
“No fear. He can come out and he boxes and he moves and he flows, you know. Other fighters come out (tense). I think (Saunders) is an underdog in the fight. But he may be a guy who has a better chance than anybody to beat him, because he’s a bit crazy and he won’t fear and he’s slick.
“We keep saying Canelo has struggled against slick fighters, but this is when he wasn’t as good as he is now. So people talk about the Lara fight, the Floyd Mayweather fight, the Trout fight, but he was 40% of the fighter that he is now.”