By Matt Lieberman: Canelo Alvarez is looking powerful in sharp in a video posted by his trainer Eddy Reynoso on social media as he prepared for his unification fight against WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders on May 8th.
Alvarez – Saunders will be shown on DAZN in the U.S, and it’s expected to be a massive hit for the streaming giant for the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend.
Canelo (55-1-2, 37 KOs) is going to need to be at his very best to win this fight against Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs), who is the craftiest fighter in the 168-lb division today.
Saunders’ promoter Eddie Hearn believes that Canelo will bring out the very best in him, and the fans are going to be in for something special on May 8th in this clash at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Texas.
Tickets selling fast for Canelo – Saunders
The ticket sales for the Canelo vs. Saunders fight have gone through the roof with over 40,000 tickets sold in the first two days in the pre-sale.
On Friday, the remaining 30,000 tickets went on sale to the general public, and it’s likely those tickets will be gone by next week.
This will be the second time the former four-division world champion Alvarez will be fighting at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Five years ago, the Mexican superstar fought WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith in front of 50,000+ fans at the AT&T Stadium on September 17th, 2016, and he wiped him out in nine rounds to become the unified WBC/WBO 154-lb champion.
A lot has changed with Canelo’s career since then, as he’s captured world titles at 160, 168, and 175.
The sky is the limit for the 30-year-old Canelo, who hopes to complete unifying the 168-lb division in September against Caleb Plant.
Before Canelo can get to Plant, he needs to face the unbeaten Saunders on May 8th, and the victory is not a sure thing.
Robert Garcia reacts to Crawford’s comments about Canelo
“He’s fought Mosley, he’s fought Lara, he’s fought Daniel Jacobs, he fought the guy from Texas, [James] Kirkland,” said trainer Robert Garci to ESNEWS in reacting to Terence Crawford’s comment this week that Canelo shies away from fighting black fighters.
“So, I don’t think he’s ducking black guys. I think for him [Canelo], he’s thinking business, and Mayweather thought business for many, many years also.
“They became businessmen. They fought the best fighters out there for them, and they made the most money. So he [Canelo] doesn’t care if they’re black.
“What I heard is he doesn’t want to fight Mexicans. That’s what Canelo has said. He doesn’t want to fight Mexicans, his countrymen.
“I’m not saying he’s ducking them, because I don’t think he’s ducking [Jaime] Munguia or Zurdo Ramirez. I think he beats both of those guys, but he’s not ducking black guys, I don’t think so.
Canelo is a businessman
“He’s [Alvarez] a businessman. He’s just making a lot of f**** money, and he’s going to become undisputed at super middleweight, though.
“Billy Joe Saunders has a belt and then the other one that has a belt is Caleb Plant. So he might fight Caleb after. Those are the fights that I think Canelo is going after. He’s f*** active,” said Robert Garcia.
Saunders is in a position where he can spoil Canelo’s huge plans for him to unify, and at the same time, he ensures that he gets a well-paying rematch.
Billy Joe would obviously like to become the undisputed super-middleweight champion himself, but there’s more to gain in beating Canelo and getting a rematch. That’s where the big money would come in for Saunders.
Fighting Caleb Plant for the undisputed 168-lb championship is small stuff compared to what Saunders would be accomplishing in facing Canelo a second time with a chance to earn huge money while attempting to beat him a second time.
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