Report- Canelo Vs Saunders Agreed To For Early May In USA

As expected, four division world champ and current Unified Super Middleweight Title holder, Canelo Alvarez, will continue on his short-term timeline of fighting frequently. This after a Thursday report that after his February expected easy win in his next bout that he’ll be right back in the ring in early May with England’s Billy Joe Saunders.

Mike Coppinger, insider for The Athletic, reported Thursday afternoon that the Canelo-Saunders about which was in the works a year ago at this time, will now happen either May 1st or May 8th and importantly, in the United States,

SOURCES: Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders have agreed to a deal for a May fight on DAZN. Three 168-pound titles up for grabs. Fight will land in U.S., on May 1 or May 8. First, Canelo will have to beat Avni Yildirim on Feb. 27 and emerge uninjured https://t.co/n2By2duTga

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 28, 2021

Again all of this have been widely reported, but it’s now being confirmed the Canelo won’t venture to the U.K. where the Saunders bout could have been held. This, as there still much uncertainty as to win fans in any significant numbers can again attend live boxing events. That means the Englishman, who is a little known commodity in the United States, will have to travel here to fight one of the, if not the, top names in the sport.

Alvarez and Saunders were to have fought last May before the Covid-19 pandemic shut the sport down. In the meantime after, Saunders got himself indefinitely suspended by the British boxing Board of Control for comments he made on a social media video joking about domestic violence.

Canelo had problems of his own with his promoter Oscar De La Hoya and eventually sued, and then settled, getting divorced from the former Hall of Fame boxer’s promotion. Then, he immediately did his first fight back in 2020 against Saunders’ fellow countryman and WBA Super Middleweight Champ, Callum Smith.

Canelo dominated their 12-round fight (photo top) last December held at the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas. And, if you’re looking for a probable destination for that proposed bout with Saunders, it may very well be back in the Alamodome. That’s where at least ten thousand or more fans can be socially distanced there and have another live gate of some revenue.

Meanwhile, as for the almost foregone conclusion for his next defense, Canelo will be fighting Turkey’s Avni Yildirim, a WBC mandatory opponent, coming at the end of February in Miami Hard Rock Stadium. It is believed that at a crowd of least fifteen thousand fans socially distanced will be able to at their bout.

The Canelo-Yildirim fight had been planned for Canelo’s home country of Mexico, but health officials there wold not approve of having fans, even socially distanced, at the proposed outdoor venues being looked at by Matchroom Boxing.

So, Matchroom and promoter Eddie Hearn quickly did the deal for the fight to be in South Florida. It’s also possible that Canelo-Saunders could be back in the Sunshine State, which has had fans at it’s NFL and college football games outside all over the state through the Fall.

And, Tampa, FL is about to host the biggest football game of them all, Super Bowl 55, with some 22,000 socially distanced attending at Raymond James Stadium for the home Buccaneers hosting the Kansas City Chiefs.

Still, San Antonio which is much closer to Mexico seems to be a more logical choice, especially around the “Cinco de Mayo” Mexican holiday.