Saul “Canelo” Alvarez faces Britain’s undefeated Billy Joe Saunders in a world super middleweight unification showdown Sunday (AEST) with 70,000 spectators expected, the largest US sports crowd since the coronavirus pandemic.
Alvarez will risk his WBC and WBA titles at AT&T Stadium while Saunders defends his WBO crown at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.
“I feel really thankful with the response of the people and that boxing brings everything back to normal for this fight,” Alvarez said during fight week.
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Saunders had been concerned about the size of the ring, threatening a pull out over the “phone booth” dimensions, but didn’t mention the issue as he spoke about how much the spectacle bout meant to him.
“I’ve been dreaming this since I was a little boy. I’ve visualised this day coming since I was five or six,” Saunders said.
“We can all have the tough talk about growing up. I’m not here apart from one reason — to win. We haven’t had the heart and soul and IQ I’ll bring to the ring on Saturday to win.”
Alvarez, fancied 8-1 by oddsmakers, is 55-1 with two drawn and 37 knockouts. He has 13 wins and a draw since suffering his lone loss at the hands of Floyd Mayweather by majority decision in 2013.
The Mexican star — whose career includes wins over Shane Mosley, Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto and Gennady Golovkin — makes his second defence of the WBA and WBC titles he won by unanimous decision over Britain’s Callum Smith last December in San Antonio.
Alvarez stopped Turkey’s Avni Yildirim in February at Miami in defending his crowns for the first time.
“He has done brilliant things for boxing. He’s a good champion,” said Saunders. “There’s a time in life when you get tested. Sometimes that can make it difficult on you.
“I think he’s going to be bumping into the wrong man on Saturday night. I’m looking forward to a good fight and I’m looking forward to winning.” Alvarez says he’s ready for whatever Saunders brings.
“I’ve been in a lot of big fights,” Alvarez said. “This is another day at the office. I come to win.”
Saunders, a 31-year-old English southpaw and former world middleweight champion, captured the WBO crown with a unanimous decision over Germany’s Shefat Isufi.
He improved to 30-0 with 14 knockouts last December with a unanimous decision win at London over Britain’s Martin Murray in his second defence of the title.
START TIME IN AUSTRALIA
Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders is expected to get underway at approximately 1pm (AEST) on Sunday.
FULL CARD
Cnaelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders — WBC, WBA, WBO super middleweight titles
Elwin Soto def. Katsunari Takayama — via ninth round TKO — WBO junior flyweight title
Souleymane Cissokho def. Kieron Conway — via split decision (96-93, 95-94, 92-97) — junior middleweight
Frank Sanchez def. Nagy Aguilera — via technical decision (60-54 x 3) — heavyweight
Marc Castro def. Irving Macias Castillo — via fourth round TKO — junior lightweight
Keyshawn Davis def. Jose Antonio Meza — via unanimous decision (60-54 x 3) — lightweight
Kelvin Davis def. Jan Marsalek — via unanimous decision (38-37 x 3) — welterweight
Christian Alan Gomez Duran def. Xavier Wilson — via second round TKO — welterweight
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