Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders - 8 May 2021

[mickey1975]

Of course Canelo has had some close fights, although it's worth putting them into perspective against the guys BJS has had close fights against .. again, it's completely different levels.

People often say BJS will need a KO to win. But that's missing the point. Facts are his boxing skills are not good enough, and he just doesn't hit hard enough.

I'd favour Callum Smith over BJS; better in every dept IMO. And Smith had more than BJS to make things difficult for Canelo - but got a systematic beat down.

Smith is vastly overrated.

[Offthehook]

bjs will cause a few minor problems, but at the end of the day, i just see no one beating canelo at the moment

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBC Reveal "Mestizo Belt"










"The Mestizo is inspired by the Charreria. It has embroidered the Charro Cala de Caballo, involving skilled control of the horse. The belt also carries two Friesian horses and a skirmish, which is very important as it is the female representation in the Charreria," the WBC explained in a statement.

"Another kind of charro demonstration is added to the belt which is known as the Jineteada and finally the Floreode Reata. These are also represented with ornamental guides and embossed flowers that, in addition to increasing its beauty, also show the ornate brilliance of the artisan hands that elaborated it. What is made in Mexico is well done and this belt incorporates the heart and soul of its artisans."

[JamesPhilips]

Nice looking belt. But another joke title.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Bard of Boxrec]

Anyone seen BJS badly hurt in a fight? I can’t recall? But I haven’t seen all his recent ones.

I’ve bunged on Canelo by decision and BJS may avoid more fire than Smith did but he’s still going to go through hell.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Mexico's Elwin Soto will defend his WBO light flyweight title against former 105-pound champion Katsunari Takayama as the chief-support bout to the super middleweight unification clash between Saul "Canelo Alvarez" and Billy Joe Saunders on May 8th at AT&T stadium in Arlington, TX, live worldwide on DAZN (except Mexico). Also added the show:Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez battles Nagy Aguilera and junior middleweight Souleymane Cissokho faces Kieron Conway.

Soto (18-1 12 KOs) fights under the Matchroom banner for the first time on the show having penned a deal with Eddie Hearn last week. The Mexican makes the third defense of the crown he ripped from Angel Acosta in dramatic fashion with a final round KO win in California in June 2019 and has seen off the challenges of Edward Heno in October 2019 and Carlos Butrago last October.

The 24 year old now puts the crown on the line against the seasoned Japanese Takayama (32-8 12 KOs). The five-time minimumweight champion made his return to professional action in December in Osaka, Japan having left the paid ranks as a World ruler in 2017 to aim for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – and now the 37 year old has switched his focus to becoming a two-weight champion.

Sanchez (17-0 13 KOs) let his hands go for a seventh-round KO win over Julian Fernandez on the undercard of Alvarez’s win over Callum Smith in San Antonio, Texas in December, and the big Cuban heavyweight will be looking to repeat that feat against Aguilera (21-10 14 KOs).

Sanchez, trained by Eddy Reynoso, will be plotting a route to the crunch clashes with his fellow big-hitters, but Aguilera will be planning to give him a tough night and the 34 year-old comes into the bout on the back of a 21st career win in November..

French Olympian Cissokho shrugged off his pain at missing the original fight date on the undercard of his manager Joshua by recording his eighth KO win from 12 outings with a sixth round stoppage of Daniel Echeverria in Dallas in March, setting up a rescheduled clash with Conway that is full of intrigue and importance for their respective careers.

Conway (16-1-1 3 KOs) had a good win over Navid Mansouri at Matchroom’s Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex in August. Conway and Cissokho (12-0 8 KOs) were due to meet on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s win over Kubrat Pulev in London in December, but the bout had to be shelved, so Conway took his frustrations out on Macauley McGowan on that card instead, with a shut-out win over ten rounds.

OTHER BOUTS

Mexican-American talent Marc Castro (2-0 2 KOs) makes it three Canelo undercard appearances from three since making his pro debut on the Canelo-Smith card in Texas. The stellar amateur recorded a third round stoppage that night and followed that with a second round KO in Miami on the Canelo-Yildirim bill – the 21 year old will be looking to shine on the biggest stage once again over eight rounds against an opponent to be named soon.

Castro’s old amateur foe Keyshawn Davis (2-0 2 KOs) made his debut at the Hard Rock Stadium and he appears alongside Castro once again in his third pro outing. The Virginia starlet grabbed a second round win that night over Lester Brown and followed that by forcing Richman Ashelley to retire after four rounds of their battle in Dubai earlier this month, and Davis will face Jose Antonio Meza (6-4 1 KO) over six rounds. It’s a family affair on the night with Keyshawn’s brother Kelvin Davis (1-0 1 KO) fights for the second time in the paid ranks after a second round KO win on his debut in December in Los Angeles, taking on Jan Marsalek (8-2 7 KOs) over six rounds.

Rounding off the undercard, Mexican Welterweight Christian Alan Gomez Duran (19-2-1 17 KOs) is on another Canelo undercard after stopping Angel Hernandez in three rounds in San Antonio in December, and he’ll celebrate Cinco De Mayo weekend over eight rounds against an opponent to be named soon.

“It’s a stacked night of action at the home of the Dallas Cowboys on Cinco De Mayo weekend,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “Elwin Soto is a great addition to our stable and the Mexican World champion will want to dazzle on the biggest stage against the experienced Takayama.

“The clash between Kieron and Souleymane is a cracker, and I am thrilled for both of them that they get to perform on this stage – there will be some spice there after it was postponed in December and now, they get their hands on each other in Texas.

“Frank always brings the heat and he’ll be eyeing a showstopping KO, and again, Marc and Keyshawn get to shine under the brightest lights – it’s going to be a spectacular night of action, leading to the big one between Canelo and Billy Joe.”

[brilo33]

Anyone seen BJS badly hurt in a fight? I can’t recall? But I haven’t seen all his recent ones.

I’ve bunged on Canelo by decision and BJS may avoid more fire than Smith did but he’s still going to go through hell.

no but lee hit him with a few shots he never wobbled , he can take a shot

[margaret thatcher]

he got hurt by isufi, havent seen him badly hurt though

[brilo33]

he got hurt by isufi, havent seen him badly hurt though

yea but that was in the weigh in when isufi called him fat

[margaret thatcher]

nice little chicken dance, reel backwards, hold onto the ropes, and then big hug. looks like he got caught on the temple by the turkish terror

[brilo33]

nice little chicken dance, reel backwards, hold onto the ropes, and then big hug. looks like he got caught on the temple by the turkish terror

yea looks like the ropes kept him up there

[Ruthless-RKO]

[maverick23]

I listened to this the other day. He’s very anti-Eddie. He raised the point about not having a British judge. If it meant that much to them then it would be in the contract. The fight will have 3 American judges. They can complain about any of them if they have an issue. Seems fairer than having one Mexican judge and one British judge to me.

Also complained about there being a crowd and the Billy Joe side not being compensated for it. All of the talk at the time of signing was that the fight would either be in Vegas (so a big site fee) or Texas where they’d be a crowd. Canelo had 15,000 - 20,000 at his last 2 fights so no idea why he thought there’d be minimal crowd.

His point around flight fees for the team. Who knows. Hardly a big deal and they shouldn’t let it bother them.

His point around Matchroom favouring Canelo is probably true but ultimately they’ve delivered Billy Joe what he wanted - a fight against the best - and he’ll be getting well paid for it.

[mickey1975]

He’s his son, so hardly going to be neutral. I thought he had a few good points. They know he’s not getting a decision anyway, but he’s a multi millionaire and will do better than people think, except the judges.

[margaret thatcher]

dat bjs bank account

[margaret thatcher]

btw judge nationality is so f@cking overrated when it comes to dodgy decisions, it means about f@ck all

whoever the moneyy man is....that's what matters

when he describes eddie popping up behind canelo.....i can totally picture it

[gregregegg]

That is the best looking belt iv ever seen in boxing. Dont hate when WBC make weird occasion belts, its got no liniage or meaning, its just something that will look epic on the wall in 30 years when your retired. That thing is soooo nice.

[maverick23]

He’s his son, so hardly going to be neutral. I thought he had a few good points. They know he’s not getting a decision anyway, but he’s a multi millionaire and will do better than people think, except the judges.

Which points did you think were good?

Even his point saying that Eddie spent time with Canelo was a bit strange when he also openly said he’d spent time with Billy a day or two previously.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea him going on about the judges. The more visibility/traction that gets the more chance of Billy Joe getting a fair shake from the judges.

[maverick23]

btw judge nationality is so f@cking overrated when it comes to dodgy decisions, it means about f@ck all

whoever the moneyy man is....that's what matters

when he describes eddie popping up behind canelo.....i can totally picture it

I tend to agree. Larry O’Connell didn’t help Lewis in his first fight with Holyfield.

I’ve always thought that on some occasions British judges (when scoring in the US) will want to show they’re impartial and may even score close rounds against the British fighter to prove it.

[JamesPhilips]

That is the best looking belt iv ever seen in boxing. Dont hate when WBC make weird occasion belts, its got no liniage or meaning, its just something that will look epic on the wall in 30 years when your retired. That thing is soooo nice.

LOL definitely agree. Mestizo means mixed Euro-Indigenous Latino, correct? Are they honouring Canelo’s ginger hair and Mexican background? Cos BJS is not Mestizo.

[Monzon83]

It's an absolute joke this fight, what has Saunders done to deserve being in the ring with Canelo? His last 4 opponents, Murray Coceres, Adamu and Isufi. None of whom are even in the same ball-park as Canelo. He'll barely win a round and then complain everything was against him.

I hope Canelo smashes him to bits, it's a bit of a disgrace to reward Saunders for fighting nobody with a shot at the P4P number 1 in the world.

[Jimmy2020]

He’s his son, so hardly going to be neutral. I thought he had a few good points. They know he’s not getting a decision anyway, but he’s a multi millionaire and will do better than people think, except the judges.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea him going on about the judges. The more visibility/traction that gets the more chance of Billy Joe getting a fair shake from the judges.

Agreed. Fury and his team bitched and moaned constantly about Wlad's judges, not going to get a fair shake, etc.... didn't do him any harm.

[JamesPhilips]

He’s his son, so hardly going to be neutral. I thought he had a few good points. They know he’s not getting a decision anyway, but he’s a multi millionaire and will do better than people think, except the judges.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea him going on about the judges. The more visibility/traction that gets the more chance of Billy Joe getting a fair shake from the judges.

Agreed. Fury and his team bitched and moaned constantly about Wlad's judges, not going to get a fair shake, etc.... didn't do him any harm.

True. And the main thing was the ring flooring.

[Jimmy2020]

Yes. We'll never know for sure, but it's possible that removing some of that foam made the difference.