The status of Canelo Alvarez’s next fight on May 2 in Las Vegas has yet to be decided, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that has wiped the slate clean for scheduled boxing matches. A large number of fights were called off for March on Wednesday, and this trend could continue.
Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN are in talks to decide this week what to do with Canelo’s May 2 fight, which was expected to be against Billy Joe Saunders.
“We’re taking it one day at a time, we’re talking to the commission in Nevada, we’re talking to the MGM (Grand), state officials,” said Golden Boy Promotions president, Eric Gomez to ESPN.com.
The Canelo-Saunders fight could wind up being postponed, according to ESPN MX. Just how long the bout would be delayed is the real question. It’s not a good idea for Canelo to reschedule the Saunders fight for June or into the second half of the year, given that he needs to be ready to face Gennadiy Golovkin in September. That’s the match that boxing fans want to see worldwide, and it’s the one that will bring in a lot of new subscribers to DAZN. Saunders isn’t a fight that is expected to do much for DAZN. He’s not popular, and no one asked Canelo to fight him. Golovkin is the bread and butter fight for Canelo and DAZN. Saunders is more of a side dish that is less important. That’s a fight that Canelo wants to pick up a title. It’s more of a fight that wants for personal reasons, and not because fans want to see him fight Saunders.
The announcement for the Canelo vs. Saunders fight was supposed to be taking place in California next week. But now it’s up in the unknown if the announcement will get made. If Canelo and Saunders are going to fight, it’s important that it takes place in May. If the fight goes beyond that, it puts the MUCH bigger Canelo vs. Golovkin trilogy match in September at risk. Look at it this way. If Canelo suffers a cut or a hand injury against Saunders, it would give him very little time to heal before his September contest against GGG.
If that fight ends up getting canceled due to Canelo being cut, then the only fight that he would have in 2020 would be against Saunders. Some fans compare the interest in Canelo-Saunders with Canelo’s stay busy fight against Rocky Fielding in December 2018. U.S fans weren’t excited at seeing Canelo fight Fielding, and we see a similar situation with Saunders.
If Canelo does postpone the Saunders fight, he may need to kick it to the second half of 2021. He wants to fight Ryota Murata next year, and the best time for that fight might in May 2021. Saunders is a smaller fight, and Canelo may squeeze that in for either September or preferably December 2021. Of course, all this would depend on the coronavirus pandemic disappearing.