By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury is upset after hearing about his friend Billy Joe Saunders’ complaints about the regulation 20-foot ring that he’s unhappy about for his fight with Canelo Alvarez this Saturday.
Saunders’ dad, Tom, says that they’re going to fly home unless the ring size is increased to 22-feet.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Billy Joe if he does fly home without fighting Canelo.
They originally wanted it to be 24, which is well above the 20-feet Matchroom has offered.
Fury wants WBO super middleweight champion Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) to be treated “fair” for his unification fight with WBA/WBC champ Canelo 55-1-2, 37 KOs).
The problem is, Saunders wants the ring size to be increased to 22-feet which is larger than the standard 16-20 feet ring.
“A standard ring is between 16 and 20 feet,” according to Wikipedia, which means Saunders wants a ring-size above the normal size with him asking for a 22-footer.
Fury demands that Saunders be treated fair
“I just got off the phone with Billy Joe, and it seems like they’re trying a lot of tricks here in Texas with him,” said Fury on social media.
I just want to say that you can try all the tricks in the mother f**** world, you ain’t going to beat Billy Joe. Play fair, guys, play f*** fair.”
It sounds like Fury wants Saunders to be given special treatment by fighting in a ring larger than the norm.
Why Canelo or any fighter agrees to let Saunders fight in a huge ring so he can run around for 12 rounds, making it a boring fight? This isn’t just about Canelo wanting to win.
It’s also about entertaining the 70,000 fans that will be attending the Canelo-Saunders fight this Saturday, May 8th, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as well as the people watching on DAZN and Sky Sports.
If Canelo puts on a bad product with a terrible eye-sore of a fight in which he’s chasing a running Saunders for 12 rounds around a 22-foot ring, how does that benefit him? It’ll potentially hurt Canelo’s popularity to be fighting a spoiler and boring his boxing fans worldwide.
If Saunders looked at the big picture, he’d realize that he WON’T win a decision against Canelo by stinking up the joint by using nonstop movement.
The judges aren’t going to give Saunders the decision. He seems to be forgetting where the fight will be taking place and also who he’s facing.
It would be in Saunders’ best interest to go out on his shield by fighting Canelo tooth and nail rather than making it a track meet on Saturday night.
Saunders not happy with the 20-foot ring
“I want a good fair shake of the dice and I want an even playing field, then I’m a happy man,” said Saunders to Behind The Gloves. “One of the small things is the ring. I’ve left it to my team. Look, it’s one of those things.
“You don’t go in a 70,000 seat with hundreds, hundreds, and hundreds of feet long and dance in a 16-foot ring or 18-foot ring or even a 20-foot ring,” said Saunders in resisting the idea of fighting in a maximum-sized 20-foot ring.
“These types of fights have to be on a fair playing field, a unification fight. I want a proper legitimate ring for both of us.
It sounds like Saunders is lining up his excuses already for after he loses to Canelo. It’s predictable what Saunders will be doing once he gets beaten by Canelo.
Saunders’ likely excuses:
- Ring size
- Lack of a British judge
- Scoring by judges
- Fighting in front of 70,000 Canelo fans
“Being underestimated is a very big advantage in my favor,” said Saunders about being overlooked by Canelo. “When I’m booed, it’s going to lift me.”
