By Aragon Garcia: Eddy Reynoso has revealed that Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent for May 2 will be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday. The trainer Reynoso says it could be either Billy Joe Saunders or Callum Smith, but it’s not a sure thing.
U.S fans don’t want to see Canel fight Saunders or Smith, as both are flawed and don’t bring much to the table. They’d prefer Canelo fight David Benavidez, Caleb Plant, Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade. Saunders and Smith both bring a lot of baggage with them with their uneven performance in their last fights.
Saunders, 30, is thought to be the slightly better opponent for Canelo because he’s a good talker, but he’s also a fighter that doesn’t like to engage. What that means for the fans is he’s probably going to run from Canelo all night. We could see a lot of angry fans during the fight, and it could be worse for Canelo than when he fought Erislandy Lara.
Smith is more likely to engage, but he’s also more of a light heavyweight. Canelo recently vacated his WBO 175-lb title after beating champion Sergey Kovalev. If Canelo is going to fight Smith, then he might as well have stayed at light heavyweight.
Reynoso: Canelo could face Saunders or Smith
“I think on Tuesday or Wednesday the announcement will be made,” said Reynoso to Fino Boxing on Canelo’s next opponent.”It can be Saunders or Smith, but nothing is for sure otherwise it would have been announced already. I believe next week we’ll find out, but what is for sure is it’ll be on May 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A week ago, Reynoso told the media that Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) is the one that Canelo will be facing next on May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now he’s clamped down on the Saunders talk, and he’s no longer saying who he believes will be getting the fight.
Is it possible that Golden Boy Promotions told Reynoso to keep quiet? It could be. By Reynoso tipping off the media about who Canelo is fighting next, he could mess up the negotiations for Golden Boy by causing Saunders to ask for the ‘moon and the stars’ by asking for well beyond what they’re willing to pay him.
There’s rumors that Golden Boy increased its offer to Saunders to $7.5 million for the Canelo fight, which is well above the $4 million they paid Rocky Fielding. The question to ask Golden Boy is Saunders worth double the price that Fielding received to fight Canelo? A better question is do the casual boxing fans in the United States know who Saunders is?
If not, then you can’t say he’s worth more than $4 million. Canelo needs to put his energy into fighting opponents that the fans in the U.S have heard of and respect. I’m not sure that Saunders checks either of those boxes. He’s not well known and not well-liked by the hardcore boxing fans in the U.S that are familiar with him.
Fighters asking for a lot of money to fight Canelo
“I guess whoever fights with the ‘Face of Boxing’ will always ask for the moon and the stars,” said Reynoso on Canelo’s opponents. “They just want to take advantage of the opportunity like when fighting against Pacquiao or Mayweather.
“It’s the fighter’s opportunity to charge what they want, and logically they do. I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with that. It’s a matter of business. The fights need to happen,” said Reynoso in explaining the reality on Canelo’s opponents.