Canelo v Saunders - May 8th Unification fight

**Master** · 05-08-2021 09:26 AM

Billy Joe Saunders relentlessly booed by Canelo Alvarez fans as both men make weight ahead of unification fight

Billy Joe Saunders was booed relentlessly by Canelo Alvarez’s fans, but appeared completely unfazed at their weigh-in on Friday.

The Brit is clearly in enemy territory taking on the Mexican in Dallas, Texas.

Just a small group of Saunders’ team managed to get permission to make the trip – Tyson Fury among them. He has no travelling fans in attendance.

“These fans will push me to win, these fans will not bother me,” he said after the weigh-in.

“They’re all for Canelo. They’re cheering for him now, but on the way out they’ll be cheering for me.”

Both men made weight successfully – Saunders at 167.8lbs and Canelo at 167.4lbs

The pair will square off with three of the four major super-middleweight world titles on the line.

Canelo comes in with the WBA and WBC belts, while Saunders owns the WBO title.

It appeared the fight was in jeopardy earlier this week when the Brit’s team declared that they were going home after a dispute over the size of the ring.

Saunders demanded a 24ft ring while Canelo’s team initially put forward an 18ft version. The Brits then asked for 22ft while the Mexicans insisted on 20ft.

However, this was eventually resolved with Canelo himself declaring that he didn’t care about the issue and so Saunders got his way with the 22ft ring.

Saunders is a huge underdog against Canelo, the man widely considered boxing’s pound-for-pound king and who has already won world titles in four different weight classes.

The brash Brit though, is sure of victory, which he declared would rank above the likes of Fury’s win over Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015.

Saunders said: “This will be the greatest win by a Brit abroad. ‘Canelo’ has defeated six Brits, I’m the last body they’ve got to chuck out because there is no-one else coming through in the super-middleweight division who has a better chance than myself.

“People may have different views, but I have my own views and my own vision. I’m the seventh Brit and if I don’t do it, then I don’t think anyone can do it.

“So hopefully everything goes well and the main thing is that it’s a fair shake of the dice because I’m up against it with the opponent. I don’t want to be up against everything else as well.”

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/8...ders-weigh-in/

**Master** · 05-08-2021 09:29 AM

Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders purses and prize money for world title fight

Alvarez will earn the bulk of the purse but Saunders will still leave Dallas with a big pay day regardless of the result tonight

Canelo Alvarez is expected to earn $35million (£25m) from his unification clash with Billy Joe Saunders with the Brit banking $7m (£5m).

The two super-middleweight world champions have long been on a collision course with the coronavirus crisis postponing their fight for 12 months.

In that time, Alvarez recorded victories over Callum Smith and Avni Yildirim while Saunders outpointed Martin Murray.

And tonight's winner will move a step closer to becoming the undisputed champion at 168lb with three of the four belts on the line at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

The victor will then likely take on the other remaining champion Caleb Plant in an undisputed clash in September.

Both Alvarez and Saunders are reliant on the performance of the pay-per-view sales to boost their purses - and this week's antics will have done neither man any harm.

Alvarez is believed to be guaranteed a purse of $15m rising to $35m while Saunders will definitely earn $3.5m, a figure which could double.

But even if Saunders pulls of the upset, he doesn't expect any credit.

"If I go in there and do what I think I can do, I can get the job done," he said.

"Beyond that, I’m not really worried about people giving me credit, I’m doing this for myself.

"I’ve done everything in boxing from southern area titles all the way to being a two-weight world champion. Thirty fights, 30 wins, so I’ve ticked all the boxes coming through.

"Even when I was coming through and fighting the likes of your John Ryders, your Chris Eubank Juniors, your Andy Lees, I feel I didn’t get enough credit.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxin...money-24059831

**TitoFan** · 05-08-2021 04:53 PM

Ali and Foreman gave us the “Rumble in the Jungle.” Trinidad vs Vargas was aptly named “Forces of Destruction.” Ali was also involved in “The Fight of the Century” (Frazier I), and “Thrilla in Manila”
(Frazier III). Leonard and Duran lived up to “The Brawl in Montreal” in their first fight.

So in the tradition of nicknames for upcoming fights with lots of fanfare... I humbly submit my own entry for the Canelo-Saunders fight:

"The Foregone Conclusion"