Last weekend, the pound-for-pound boxing star Saul Alvarez destroyed an overmatched Avni Yildirim in three rounds, prompting criticism from the world media over Canelo’s level of opponent. Yet, this criticism seems massively unfair, since this fight was his third victory following the return of boxing. It also maintains his reputation as an old-school boxer who wants to remain active, even if it means sacrificing the quality of opposition. Alvarez has announced that he will next fight British southpaw Billy Joe Saunders on May 8^th, a seventh fight against British opposition for the Mexican.

There is no denying that Yildirim, a fighter that had previously been beaten by Chris Eubank Jr and Anthony Dirrell, was never going to pose a serious threat to the status and reputation of the red-headed Mexican magician. Yet, the blame for the quality of the opposition should be put on neither Alvarez nor Yildirim, but instead on the World Boxing Council (WBC), the governing body who mandated the fight. The matchmaking represents one of boxing’s biggest problems, the power of the governing bodies, as we have recently seen unpopular, unwanted fights as fighters have won minor titles to ‘earn’ a shot at the champion. Joshua against Pulev, Spence against Ocampo, and Golovkin against Szeremeta all represent recent occurrences of great champions fighting against undeserved challengers, with the fighter being blamed for their opponents.

The promoting powerhouses, such as Eddie Hearn and Bob Arum, need to plan the future based around the interests of the fighters, with belts being secondary considerations. The heavyweight, light heavyweight and welterweight divisions have all recently had mega fights postponed due to belts and fighters wanting to protect their unbeaten records. Canelo has moved around the divisions and beaten some of the best fighters in the world, meaning that we should forgive him for fighting the occasional Yildirim. For the commercial powerhouses, bad fights are better than no fights.

Billy Joe Saunders presents a different challenge to any that Alvarez has previously faced, a fighter that truly believes that he can win. Some of Canelo’s toughest fights have been against slick movers, such as Erislandy Lara and Amir Khan (until a frightening knockout). Saunders is one of the slickest fighters out there, just ask the heavy-handed Canadian, David Lemieux. Ever since his victory in 2014 over Chris Eubank Jr, Saunders has craved the big fights and now has a chance to take the biggest scalp of them all. The biggest question remains whether he can actually win.

Saunders can absolutely beat Canelo, but I doubt he will when the two face off in May. Saunders’ greatest problem is his lack of punching power, with only one knockout in his seven world title victories, meaning that he often relies on his skills to earn a wide points victory. However, Canelo is notoriously known for gaining decisions in fights that many experts and fans believed that he lost, most famously in his two fights against Gennady Golovkin.

Nevertheless, if any fighter is slick, slippery, and stylish enough to dance Alvarez for 12 rounds then it is Saunders. Saunders’ best friend in boxing is Tyson Fury and one thing that any boxing fan knows is that you never box the gypsy fighters. They have proven their talent before, and they will do it again. Come May 8^th, Alvarez against Saunders is a fight that any fight fan should definitely make the effort to stay awake for.

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