Britain’s Billy Joe Saunders will lock horns with P4P king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May, according to reports from the United States.
The pair will clash on either May 1 or May 8 in an eagerly-awaited super-middleweight title unification match, which wlll be streamed globally by DAZN (outside of Mexico) according to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic.
Another Hearn coup
The news is another maior coup for Eddie Hearn, who will again promote after enticing Canelo back to DAZN for his December beatdown of Britain’s Callum Smith.
Before clashing with Saunders, the Mexican megastar is slated first to meet WBC mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim on February 27 in Miami. Again with Hearn promoting and DAZN streaming.
Assuming Alvarez (54-1-2) comes through unscathed against Yildirim (he will start a prohibitive betting favourite), he will then put his WBC, WBA and Ring magazine titles on the line against Saunders.
Sky Bet make Alvarez a 1/4 favourite to defeat Saunders, with the British star an 11/4 underdog.
WBO champion Billy Joe improved to 30-0 in his last bout with a convincing points victory over fellow Briton Martin Murray in London in December.
Canelo v Saunders at last
Canelo v Saunders had initially been set to take place in May 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit just days before the initial press conference to announce the bout.
That December victory over Smith was a swift return to DAZN for Canelo, soon after the early end of his landmark $365million deal with the streaming platform. At the same time, he had also ended his association with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
The 30-year-old Alvarez, at the height of his powers after rising to the P4P #1 spot, now operates as a free agent both promotionally and from a broadcast standpoint.
Canelo v Saunders is expected to take place in the United States, with the exact venue still to be announced. It will co-incide with Cinco De Mayo weekend, a key annual date for major fights. Now normally featuring Canelo.
Saunders will be the seventh British opponent Canelo has faced. He has already defeated Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, Amir Khan, Liam Smith, Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith.
