By Dan Ambrose: Billy Joe Saunders states that he won’t be facing Canelo Alvarez in September because he won’t have enough time to prepare for the fight. There are still two months to go before Canelo’s next match on September 12, but Saunders says he won’t have enough time to train, according to @MikeCoppinger.
Ten weeks isn’t enough time for Saunders to prepare for the Canelo fight.
On top of that, Saunders appears to be bitter about him needing to agree to a pay cut for him to get the Canelo fight. He thinks Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) should be the one that takes a cut in pay from the $35 million that he would be getting. It makes sense or Canelo to take somewhere around $26 million, and give the $9 million to Saunders.
Why Saunders would need additional time beyond two months for a crucial match against Canelo is hard to understand. Canelo is the fight of Saunders’ life, and he’s saying he won’t take it because he doesn’t have enough time to train for the September 12 match.
Saunder suggests Canelo take a pay cut
What likely is the main reason for Saunders deciding he no longer wants the Canelo bout is the money. It’s unclear how much Golden Boy Promotions are asking Saunders to agree to in terms of a pay cut, but it’s enough for him to be no longer interested in facing Canelo.
Saunders should have been keeping in shape during the pandemic, and there’s no excuse for why he wouldn’t be ready to face Canelo in two months from now. Canelo has been working out on his own, and he’s not been with his trainer Eddy Reynoso. He’s been doing it on his own, working hard, and being a professional.
“If they think they’re going to cut my money and cut me short, that’s not going to happen,” said Saunders to The Athletic on Team Canelo wanting him to take a slice in pay for the September 12 fight.
“Considering he’s getting $35m, they come to me for a pay cut in Sept? They want to get short notice and a pay cut. Why not him take a pay cut?”
Canelo is the A-side, so Saunders won’t get anywhere by telling him to take a cut in pay for their fight. If Saunders were a famous fighter, which he’s not, then it would make perfect sense for Canelo to take a pay cut.
Golden Boy and Canelo are wasting their time with Saunders, and they should have used their time wisely and picked a good fighter that they could negotiate with to set-up a contest.
Is Billy Joe afraid of losing to Canelo?
Canelo is the one that wanted Saunders, not the fans. It would be nice if Canelo showed a little more courage to face fighters that could beat him rather than going after flawed guys like Saunders, who can’t punch.
Saunders is coming off of a terrible performance against Marcelo Esteban Coceres on November 9. He was getting beaten by the little known Coceres through the first ten rounds before scoring a come from behind 11th round knockout. That was Saunders’ second consecutive poor performance since moving up to 168 in 2019.
It’s a bad look on Saunders’ part to back out of the Canelo fight, especially after he failed to fight Demetrius Andrade at 160. Saunders moved up in weight to 168 rather than face Andrade, and a lot of boxing fans think he ducked the American. Saunders is making the same move with Canelo, and it’s disappointing but predictable for him.
Some boxing fans want to see Canelo fight Saunders, but there’s not enough. In the U.S, Saunders is nobody and not a guy with a fanbase. The only thing Canelo gets out of fighting Saunders is an opponent that would resonate with the UK boxing fans.
That’s the reason why Canelo wants to fight Saunders so severely. The other undeniable purpose is that Saunders is an easy mark. He can’t punch, and he mostly just moves around trying to out-slick his opponents. Saunders is a defensive guy.
Saunders has been talking retirement
If Saunders is telling the truth about no longer being interested in the Canelo fight, then he would be two for two in messing up essential matches. As I said already, Saunders chose to move up to 168 in 2019 rather than stick it out and face Demetrius Andrade.
Now we’re seeing the same thing from Saunders in electing not to fight Canelo and blaming it on him not having enough time to prepare.
Lately, Saunders has been talking about wanting to retire from boxing. It doesn’t look like Saunders has his mind in the game any longer. That’s another reason why Canelo should have moved on ages ago rather than having invested the entire year in trying to get Saunders as his opponent.
If Golden Boy continues to pursue a fight with Saunders after this, then it shows that Canelo lacks the self-confidence to take on the best at 168. Canelo should be chasing after a battle with Caleb Plant or David Benavidez, considering those two are considered the best in the division.
Callum Smith is the #3 guy who got lucky in his last fight against the unheralded John Ryder. Canelo took the easy road when he moved up to 175 recently in choosing an old Sergey Kovalev instead of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Why isn’t Canelo looking to fight the best?
After winning the WBO 175-lb title from Kovalev, Canelo gave it up rather than face Beterbiev or Bivol. That was perceived as a fear-based move on Canelo’s part because Beterbiev and Bivol would likely beat him.
Now we’re seeing Canelo going after the weakest link at 168 in Saunders, and it’s another classic textbook move on his part. If Canelo was the fighter the casual boxing fans think he is; he would have never considered a fight with Saunders in the first place.
Saunders is the equivalent of low-hanging fruit for Canelo to reach for and pick off without any problems. It would be a much different story if Canelo had to test himself by facing Bivol, Beterbiev, Benavidez, or Plant.
I can’t include Callum to the list based on his performance against Ryder. I think we may have overrated Callum after his win over George Groves, who took the fight after suffering a bad shoulder injury.
Additionally, if Canelo were the confident fighter that people think he is, he would have moved on already from Saunders at the first signs of problems in negotiations that match. The fact that Canelo hasn’t moved on gives you some insight to his self-belief.