By Jim Maltzman: Eddie Hearn confirms that 60,000 tickets have already been sold for the May 8th fight between Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Hearn predicts the fight will be sold out with 80,000 fans in attendance. A crowd of that size hasn’t been seen in for a boxing event in the U.S since before the pandemic. It’s a good signal for the future.
The underdog Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) will have upset on his mind when he brings his WBO super middleweight title with him to take on WBA/WBC champion Canelo (55-1-2, 37 KOs).
80,000 fans will attend Canelo-Saunders
“Yeah, we got another six or seven thousand to go, and thankfully, we were allowed 80,000 for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, so we’re going to be at full capacity,” said Eddie Hearn to Yahoo Sports when asked if the Canelo-Saunders fight has sold 60,000 tickets.
“He moves really well, he’s fast, he knows how to box, and that’s why I’m training,” said Canelo about Saunders.
“That’s why I’m training, I know how to deal with that. I know it’s going to be a difficult fight, especially in the first rounds, and I’m getting ready for that.
“Yes, it’s different; you have to work the fight differently, and you have to be patient,” said Canelo in how difficult it is to fight a defensive fighter like Saunders. “You have to wait around round by round, but you also have to win them.
“And you can get them in the first round, eighth round, or the tenth rounds, but I’m not the same fighter I was in 2014,” said Canelo. “I have more experience, and I think that’ll benefit me.”
Having a massive crowd rooting for Canelo could result in him fighting more aggressively than he has in the past, which could result in Saunders having a lot of opportunities to land.
Saunders does well against fighters that come straight at him looking to slug, and we could see him having a lot of success on May 8th.
Canelo becoming stronger
“Yes, I think since I was 28 and 29, I’ve felt stronger,” Alvarez said. “I think it’s the work in the gym, and working on the technique of punching harder. It’s something that you learn and it comes with discipline.
“Yes, it’s everything, knowing how to rotate your body with your shoulder at the exact moment, and when to counter,” said Canelo talking about how he’s learned to generate more power on his shots.
This is my interview with @Canelo with a brief guest appearance a la The Penguin or The Joker, from the great @EddieHearn https://t.co/eYyqwq7QZu
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) April 14, 2021
“You learn and it’s not something that is always appreciated from the outside. It’s a lot in learning how to rotate your body and throw at the precise moment.
“It’s something I always think about for my people and my story,” said Canelo when asked if he looks for a knockout. “I get ready for 12 rounds, but it’s definitely something I think about.
“I don’t think it will help,” said Canelo about taking time off before his fight with Callum Smith last December. “Even if I took five months off, I’m always ready for the fight,” Alvarez added.
We started seeing an increase in Canelo’s punching power as far back as his second fight with Gennadiy Golovkin. He badly marked up Golovkin’s face and backed him up the entire fight.
From there, Canelo has looked like a different fighter, knocking out Rocky Fielding, WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and Avni Yildirim. Canelo would have had a chance to knockout Callum Smith had he been more aggressive.
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