By Jeff Aronow: Promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s working on staging the May 8th unification fight between Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders in front of a crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Hearn believes that a crowd of 70,000 would be possible. Canelo fought in front of 50,000 fans at AT&T Stadium for his fight against Liam Smith in 2016, and that was before the Mexican star was still coming up.
Those boxing fans would be coming just to see Canelo because Saunders isn’t well known in the U.S, and it’s not a great fight that the public is demanding. WBO super middleweight champion Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) is from the UK, and he’s not a huge talent.
“It’s a great fight. It was an honor to do the Callum Smith fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Fino Boxing on the Canelo vs. Saunders fight. “The Saunders fight for me is one of the best fights in boxing.
“Billy Joe is going to have to raise his game to beat Canelo. We’re having meetings about the venue. It’ll be Las Vegas or Dallas; those are the two options,” said Hearn.
Wherever it ends up, Saunders must put some effort into trying to beat Canelo because his last two opponents were poor. Last month, Canelo stopped WBC mandatory Avni Yildirim in a third-round TKO. Yildirim covered up against the ropes and let Canelo punch away at him.
In Canelo’s unification fight last December against WBA 168lb champion Callum Smith, it was the same type of effort. Smith covered up on the ropes and let Canelo pound away at him.
“We have a chance in Dallas to do a full crowd with the Cowboys, which would be incredible. The atmosphere in San Antonio and Miami was incredible, and it was a quarter full.
“Billy Joe Saunders is a tremendous talent, and this is his toughest fight at 168 pounds for Canelo Alvarez,” said Hearn.
“No disrespect to Caleb Plant, but Billy has the style and the tools to be as dangerous against Canelo Alvarez as anyone at 168.”
The boxing public doesn’t view Saunders as the toughest fight for Canelo at 168.
They see former WBC champion David Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) as the toughest. Edgar Berlanga or Caleb Plant are rated higher than Saunders by a lot o U.S fans.
Saunders is a good fighter for the 160-lb division, but not at 168. The small amount of power that Saunders does have is inadequate for the 168lb division, especially for him to defeat a fighter like Canelo.