Saunders’ promoter wants Canelo next, then Golovkin

By Boxing News - 01/03/2017 - Comments

Image: Saunders’ promoter wants Canelo next, then Golovkin

By Dan Ambrose: Frank Warren, the promoter for WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs), wants him to defend his title against #1 WBO Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) in his first fight in 2017. Warren figures that the 27-year-old Saunders has got the goods to keep the Canelo vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin fight from taking place in 2017.

Warren wants Saunders to face Golovkin after he beats Canelo. That would be a very big year for Saunders if he can beat Canelo and then take on Golovkin. Even if Saunders loses to Golovkin, he would get two very nice paydays against those two fighters.

A win over Canelo would likely involve a rematch at some point down the road. Golden Boy Promotions couldn’t have Canelo not avenge a loss to Saunders like they did with his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. from 2013. Canelo would absolutely need to avenge that loss.

“I know everyone wants Gennady Golovkin against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez but my man Billy Joe Saunders could upset them,” said Warren to the dailystar.co.uk. “First up, I want to see Saunders defend his WBO middleweight title against Alvarez before trying to unify the division against IBF, WBC and WBA champion Golovkin,” said Warren.

The Saunders fight is there for the taking if Canelo and Golden Boy want it. With Canelo’s No.1 ranking with the WBO at 160, he can definitely take the fight against Saunders if he wants it. Golden Boy was smart in angling Canelo for the title shot against Saunders by having him move down to 154 to pick up the WBO junior middleweight title off of Liam Smith.

Few boxing fans understood the move by Canelo in moving down in weight to fight Smith, but the move was a brilliant chess move by Golden Boy. By winning the WBO junior middleweight title, it enabled Canelo to have himself installed as the mandatory for Saunders at 160 just by making a request to the WBO. Golden Boy needed to do this because Saunders has been ordered by the WBO to fight back to back mandatory defenses.

This meant that there would be no chance for Saunders to face Canelo in a voluntary defense unless he was the mandatory, which has now been taken care of thanks to Golden Boy having him fight Liam Smith.

Canelo might not take the fight with Saunders next. Golden Boy is in negotiations with the management of former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) for a fight on May 6 on Cinco de Mayo holiday. That’s a big money mega-fight between those two fighters, even though Chavez Jr. has more of a fading star that has already exhausted it’s fuel and collapsed inward.

The boxing fans that remember the fighter that Chavez Jr. used to be will still be interested in paying to see him fight the 26-year-old Canelo. Saunders is still an option that Golden Boy might use if they can’t arrange the fight against Chavez Jr. I think Golden Boy wants to make the fight against Saunders if they can in 2017, because Canelo needs Saunders’ World Boxing Organization title for the Golovkin negotiations.

It helps Canelo to enter into the serious part of the negotiations with the WBO title in his possession. That way Golden Boy can take away Golovkin’s promoters argument that Canelo is just a challenger facing a three-belt champion in Triple G.

Saunders is lucky to still be the WBO champion after he barely escaped his last fight in beating #12 WBO Artur Akavov (16-2, 7 Kos) in winning a 12 round unanimous decision on December 3 in Scotland. Saunders won the fight by the scores 116-113, 116-112 and 115-113. The important thing is Saunders picked up a victory in that fight, but he did not look good in barely beating a fighter who isn’t in the same league as Canelo and Golovkin.

Saunders blamed his performance on him being outside of the ring for a year and with the weight that he had to take off for him to get down to the 160lb weight limit. Saunders put on a little too much weight in his time off during the last year, and it was a real struggle for him to take off the weight.

An in shape 5’11” Saunders would be a lot of trouble for the 5’8” Canelo Alvarez, because he would have a big three inch height advantage over the Mexican star. As long as Saunders isn’t letting himself go since his win over Akavov, he should be in a lot better shape than he was for that fight. If Saunders is able to use movement and speed against Canelo, he could make it very hard for him to land much of anything. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Erislandy Lara both created the blueprint in how to beat Canelo by throwing strictly hard jabs and using movement.

Canelo is a counter puncher, and he needs his opponents to be throwing power shots at him or standing stationary for him to have a chance to land his big power shots. If you jab him, lean backwards while jabbing, and don’t stand still, you can beat Canelo. Getting a decision over Canelo is another matter. You can beat him, but getting the decision is a different story. Many boxing fans felt that Austin Trout and Lara both beat Canelo, but the judges saw it another way.

As of now, Saunders is still the Plan-B backup plan for Canelo if he can’t get the Chavez Jr. fight. Canelo matches up better against Chavez Jr. than he does with Saunders, because he’ll stand and trade with him on the inside. Saunders is more likely to move and jab all night long. He’ll make it tough on Canelo to land his big power shots if he comes in shape. Saunders has the faster hands than Canelo, and he’s a very good boxer when he’s in top shape. That would be the magic question for the fight. Will Saunders come in shape or does he get heavy and have to melt down again to make 160. The Saunders that fought Akavov would lose to Canelo badly. That’s why Saunders need to make sure he comes into came in good shape rather than using training camp as a fat farm to lose weight.