Canelo Alvarez reacted in a negative way on Thursday night in responding to the media revealing that he’ll be fighting Billy Joe Saunders next on May 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Mexican star posted on social media in Spanish that he will be the one that announces his next fight.
The media and a lot of boxing fans on social media have already pretty much announced the fight, and there’s no stopping them. Unless Canelo chooses to go in another direction, the fight is pretty much official in the eyes of the boxing public.
It would be a shocker at this point if Canelo announced that he’s NOT fighting Saunders next, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to do that. Saunders is the ideal opponent for Canelo Alvarez, and he’s not going to surprise people by telling them he’s fighting a dangerous guy like Artur Beterbiev next.
“The day that is official the first to announce will be ME, do not get carried away by “close sources,” said Canelo on his Twitter account.
Well, Canelo can get the last laugh on the media by announcing on Friday that he’s NOT fighting Saunders on May 2. If Canelo wants to show that the media were wrong, he can announce that he’s fighting Callum Smith or someone that they actually want to see him fight like Jermall Charlo.
Canelo-Saunders is expected to be announced officially by Golden Boy Promotions on Friday. If Canelo chooses to fight someone else instead, a lot of boxing fans won’t be upset. That would be a pleasant surprise if Canelo turns around and tells the media that he’s fighting someone like Callum Smith, Artur Beterbiev, Jermall Charlo or Dmitry Bivol.
It’s been the worst kept secret that Canelo will be fighting Saunders next. Fans have known for weeks that it’s going to be Saunders that he faces on May 2, and they haven’t exactly happy about it. If Canelo wanted fans to applaud his choice of an opponent, then he probably should have picked Beterbiev, Jermall Charlo or Bivol.
“By the way … if it becomes official @Canelo vs @bjsaunders_ Saul would be facing a World Champion fighter, same as some detractors said he would never face, so the Tapatio continues to face Champion after Champion,” said Ernesto Amador@ErnestoAmador
The fans like that Canelo fights champions, but, they weren’t happy that he chose to fight WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. They viewed that as a weak pick, as they thought he should have chosen IBF/WBC champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) or WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs). It’s nice that Canelo fights champions, but he’s whiffing when he takes on champions that are considered the weakest of the bunch.