Billy Joe Saunders is steaming mad at his promoter Eddie Hearn already planning for a fight between Canelo Alvarez and IBF 168-lb champion Caleb Plant for September. The only way the Canelo-Plant fight happens is if the Mexican star beats Saunders on the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend on May 8th.
WBO super middleweight champion Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) is fighting WBA/WBC champ Canelo (55-1-2, 37 KOs) in less than three weeks from now on May 8th on DAZN at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It makes sense for Billy Joe not to be overjoyed at hearing about Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn already negotiating the site venue for Canelo’s unification match against IBF 168-lb champion Caleb Plant.
Saunders upset with Hearn’s planning
From Hearn’s side, you can perfectly understand why he would want to be planning for the Canelo vs. Plant fight.
Right now, Canelo is like an unstoppable train, seemingly unbeatable, and a huge favorite to defeat the slower, weaker Saunders on May 8th.
While Saunders does have great boxing skills, his punching power is nothing special, and his resume woeful.
The guys that Saunders has beaten to make himself a two-division world champion weren’t anything special.
Billy Joe beat Andy Lee by a close 12 round majority decision in 2015 to become the WBO 160-lb champion.
In 2019, Saunders became a two-division world champion by beating obscure German-based super middleweight Shefat Isufi by a 12 round decision to win the vacant WBO 168-lb title.
“I’m a bit disappointed because he’s already planning venues for the Caleb Plant fight, you know. It’s one of them,” said Saunders to iFL TV about Hearn.
“People can say what they want, and you know, you got this shot. And people look at… f*** the money. F*** everything. I’m here to win.”
Saunders is failing to realize that Canelo is big business for Matchroom and boxing, so, of course, he’s going to be given the red carpet treatment by Hearn.
It would be crazy for Hearn not to be bending over backward to set up the Plant fight ahead of time.
Even if the Canelo vs. Saunders fight were viewed as a 50-50 toss-up match, it would be wise for Hearn to be looking to find a venue ahead of time for the Canelo-Plant fight in September. Canelo is too important for Hearn not to make that move.
With Canelo, the huge favorite to trounce Saunders, it’s a no-brainer for Hearn to be doing the painstaking work of finding a site for the Alvarez vs. Plant fight.
It takes ages to find a venue for the mega-fights, as we’re seeing with the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury heavyweight clash.
No English judge for Canelo vs. Saunders
“I did this deal on the basis of an English judge, American judge, and a Mexican judge,” said Saunders.
“Then when he come here the other day, it was no, the English judge… now no English officials allowed.”
It probably won’t matter that there won’t be an English judge for the Canelo-Saunders fight because this will likely be a pure mismatch from start to the bitter finish.
Saunders has no punching power whatsoever, and he’s going to be getting lit up all night by Canelo.
Even if it does go to the scorecard, it’ll be the academic who the winner is. But it’s unlikely to go the full 12. Saunders has no chance, and he’s starting to look old.
It’s been six years since Saunders last fought a good opponent in his fight against Andy Lee, and he barely won that fight.
The age and the weak opposition that Saunders has been dining on for the last six years will result in him getting slaughtered by Canelo.
In the end, the crying that Saunders is doing now about the absence of a British judge and Hearn already planning for the Canelo vs. Plant fight will be meaningless.
