Billy Joe Saunders targeted for Canelo vs. Smith undercard

By Boxing News - 08/03/2016 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: It’s looking more and more like WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders could very well wind up on the undercard of the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith fight on September 17 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. According to Dan Rafael, Golden Boy Promotions, the promoters for Canelo, are working with Saunders’ promoter Frank Warren to have the unbeaten Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) defend his World Boxing Organization title on the undercard of the Canelo-Smith fight.

With Saunders being on the card, it would mean that Canelo would be a likely opponent for him in December when he moves back up to the middleweight division. If Canelo and Saunders both win on September 17, then the two of them could face each other in December. It would give the 26-year-ol Canelo the chance of winning two quick titles within three months of each other with him first beating the smaller Liam Smith for his WBO 154lb strap, and then moving up to fight Saunders for his WBO 160lb title in December.

There’s no word whether Canelo require a catch-weight handicap at 155lbs for the Saunders fight. That would be troubling, especially given what Amir Khan said this week about Canelo weighing 187 pounds for their fight last May. Why a fighter would need a catch-weight of 155lbs if they’re rehydrating to 187 is the big question.

“Golden Boy vice president Eric Gomez told ESPN.com. If Saunders appears it means Warren and Golden Boy will have made a multi-fight deal under which Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) would fight Sept. 17 and then defend his belt against Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) in December on HBO,” said Rafael on ESPN.com.

By Canelo beating Saunders for his WBO middleweight title, it would make a fight against unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) a unification match rather than putting Canelo in the role of a challenger in their proposed fight in the fall of 2017. I doubt that Canelo would want to be seen in a one down position in a fight against Golovkin, because it will be seen by so many boxing fans on HBO pay-per-view.

If Canelo can at least have one title in his possession, it will put him on a more even playing field in the eyes of some casual boxing fans. I guess might help Canelo ask for a bigger slice of the revenue as well. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya said last January that he would ask for a 90/10 split of the revenue in favor or Canelo in a fight between him and Golovkin.

If Caneo has a title in his possession when he faces Golovkin next year, he can possibly use that to help justify the request for a bigger cut of the cash.

“If I had my way, negotiations would be 90 percent for Caneo and 10 percent for Golovkin,” said De La Hoya to ESPN Deportes. “So obviously these negotiations would be complicated, but in time we will sit down and put together this fight. It’s a fight that everyone wants to see.”

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If De La Hoya sticks to the 90/10 split, then we probably won’t see a fight between Golovkin and Canelo in 2017, because that kind of split is something you would see if Canelo were fighting a lesser guy. It would mean that Golovkin wouldn’t get to share in the huge amount of PPV buys that he would help bring in. If all Golovkin is going to get is 10 percent of the revenue for the Canelo fight, then I think he would be better off letting Caneo continue to fight the likes of Smith and whoever before he’s ultimately pressured to fight someone good and he ends up losing again.

There’s no word about who Billy Joe Saunders would be facing on the Canelo vs. Smith card. Gabriel Rosado’s name was mentioned as a possibility. I’m not sure if that would be the ideal opponent, but Rosado is promoted by Golden Boy, so it would give them a chance of having one of their own guys get a title shot.

Rosado is currently ranked #11 by the WBO at 160, so he makes an obvious choice and probably a safe choice for Saunders. I can’t see Saunders facing anyone that would have a good chance of beating him if he’s going to be fighting Canelo in December.