Canelo vs Saunders Overview

Billy Joe Saunders is without a doubt one of the most controversial characters in the sport of boxing today.





Along with his numerous issues outside of the ring, the 30-year-old WBO super-middleweight champion is incredibly polarising when it comes down to his ability inside it too. The 29-0 fighter rose to prominence in November 2014 by beating Chris Eubank JR via split decision, in a contest where his incredible talent was clear to see. It is then no surprise that almost 6 years on Saunders is due to face WBA (regular) super-middleweight champion and arguably the current face of boxing, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.





Despite his talent, few give Saunders any real chance of defeating the 29-year-old Mexican superstar whose sole loss came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr back in 2013. Since the bout, Canelo has drawn 1 and won 10 fights, capturing numerous titles and adding impressive names to his resume along the way such as: Miguel Cotto, Gennadiy Golovkin and light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev. Saunders record, meanwhile, pales in comparison but still holds somewhat solid names including Andy Lee and David Lemieux.





One of the reasons that Saunders hasn’t faced an elite opponent to date is due to his lack of professionalism outside of the ring. While fighting in the middleweight division, it wasn’t uncommon to see Saunders balloon up past 200lbs in between fights, despite having to weigh in at 160lbs for bouts. Coupled with the fact he has failed to impress and even been wobbled against lesser opposition in recent times, why think Saunders has any chance of beating a fighter like Canelo?





There are two particular reasons why Saunders may have a slight chance of causing what would be one of the biggest upsets of the decade. The first is that Saunders rises to the level of his opponent. Saunders has always produced his most impressive performances when facing the toughest opposition. Against both Lee and Eubank Jr Saunders raced into an early lead with tremendous slick boxing, he even floored Lee twice in the 3rd round of their middleweight bout where he would first become a world champion. In both fights Saunders’ talent alone was too much for his opponents but his indiscipline outside of the ring seemed to catch up with him as he gassed from the midway stage and only won by SD & MD respectively.





This all changed in December of 2017 when Saunders put on an unrelenting boxing masterclass against Canadian monster-puncher David Lemieux. In truth, when Lemieux fought Saunders, it would appear he was expected to pick up the WBO middleweight title and set up his own bout with Canelo. Saunders however had other plans on the night and put on such a tantalising and brazen boxing clinic that he grabbed the attention of all the US/Canadian viewers and analysts alike. Even more impressive than his manner of victory was that Saunders showed no signs of slowing down as he had done previously when fighting at the top level.

The second reason Saunders may have a chance is that he is the worst match-up for Canelo stylistically. The one man who beat the 53-1-2 Mexican was arguably the best defensive boxer and counter puncher of all time. Naturally it would be easy to overlook, as every man to face Floyd Mayweather JR was gifted an ‘L’ on their record. However, many argue that Canelo is quite fortunate not to have suffered two losses.





In 2014 Canelo was awarded a split-decision victory over Cuban-American Erislandy Lara. Like Saunders, Lara is a slick defensive southpaw with tremendous footwork who offers even less offensively yet still managed to cause Canelo huge issues. Although Canelo is clearly a different beast now, it’s a distinct style he hasn’t had to face since, which could cause him a lot of trouble if the right Billy Joe Saunders shows up.





Even if that does happen though, Saunders will have a big task on his hands when it comes to winning the judges over. Along with being handed some dubious decisions like the GGG draw & victory, there is usually one standout questionable scorecard in his favour from one of the judges.





Against Mayweather, C.J. Ross scored the bout 114-114, against Lara, Levi Martinez scored the bout 117-111 Canelo, and in the first Golovkin fight Adelaide Byrd somehow scored the bout 118-110 Canelo. Though its likely a simple case of judges unintentionally being influenced by the crowd, it will be something the Saunders camp will be more than wary of.





For now, all questions of styles, judging and fitness are on the backburner. The match-up which was originally slated to take place on May 2nd has likely fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the bout is still due to go ahead either on the original date or later in 2020, a GGG trilogy fight is reportedly being planned for the end of the year. Despite that fact Saunders switched promoter from Frank Warren to Eddie Hearn to secure such big money bouts, if this fight is pushed back long enough, it is in danger of being cancelled altogether.





All Saunders can do for the time being is prepare himself to be in the best physical condition possible under coach Ben Davison. Without a doubt Saunders knows the size of task which faces him and will inevitably bring his rare ‘A’ game to the table. Whether or not that is enough to beat Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez remains to be seen but expect to see a much more competitive and entertaining fight than people are currently anticipating.