Big Question: Who wins Canelo-Saunders?

Last week we asked if you’d be ordering the Ruiz-Arreola pay-per-view. I kind of got the expected result: 11 percent said yes, 55 percent said no, 34 percent said they were going to watch but via, uh, other means than buying the PPV.

I don’t really know why you wouldn’t watch at all, it was a pretty good show entertainment-wise and always shaped up to be one, but then I am not a wizard or a genius, and maybe you just wanted to partake in some nice weather on a Saturday night. Or do anything else. Lotta boxing out there these days.

This week, we get back to a familiar idea: Who R U picking?

Canelo Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KO) and Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KO) are set for their big three-belt unification at super middleweight this Saturday, live on DAZN and in front of some 60,000 fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, or Cowboys Stadium in Dallas if you prefer.

How to Watch Canelo vs Saunders

Date: Saturday, May 8 | Start Time: 8:00 pm ET
Location: AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX
Streaming: DAZN
Online Coverage: BadLeftHook.com

Canelo is a clear favorite here, but this isn’t the Avni Yildirim fight where our “Big Question” was how long Yildirim would last. (Not long, it turned out.) Right now, MGM have Canelo at -650, with Saunders at +450; those are tighter odds than some may expect (not that they’re tight, really), but then some may think they’re too wide.

Saunders, 31, has had his dedicated supporters. He’s no superstar like Canelo, and his level of opposition has often been iffy, and his dedication between fights has often been even iffier. But some have felt Saunders can be a serious problem for Canelo for years, back to when they were both middleweights.

There is a belief among those people that the mobile, crafty, southpaw Saunders represents the sort of fighter who can give Alvarez fits. And there’s every reason to expect Billy Joe to be fully dialed-in, too. He hasn’t had a long break of inactivity and he knew this fight was coming. He will be as ready as he can get.

Some, however, feel that Canelo is simply a better fighter, and that Saunders doesn’t bring anything to the table that Alvarez won’t be able to handle without much trouble — particularly the 2021, 30-year-old version of Alvarez, as opposed to, say, a 2014 model.

What say you? Is Billy Joe a serious threat for the upset? Can he pull it off and scrap the Canelo-Plant plans? Or will Canelo roll on to September?