Canelo Alvarez is carefully mapping out his plans for 2021 and one of them includes a botched blockbuster encounter with Billy Joe Saunders. It appears that both camps have finally come to terms and the scratched bout of 2020 will finally happen in May of this year.
According to reports, the camps of both Alvarez and Saunders have reached an agreement for the two boxers to meet in May. The fight remains unofficial and the two sides have only agreed in principle.
It will be recalled that Alvarez and Saunders were originally set to clash in May 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic ruined everything. Seeing that it made no sense to hold a big match with no live audience, concerns grew on the revenue-earning potential of an Alvarez vs. Saunders showdown.
A lot has changed since then. But with a second wave now happening, there remains a lot of questions in the air of staging the fight. As of this writing, there is no official date and venue for the Alvarez vs. Saunders showdown.
But it appears a plausible date to hold it would be either on May 1 or May 8. This depends on where the Cinco De Mayo holiday falls, The Athletic reported.
Canelo, Saunders Agree To Terms For Three-Belt Unification Clash In May https://t.co/Bbcy1KG56u pic.twitter.com/gBEups2HLp — BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) January 29, 2021
Aside from that, the place where it would be staged is still unknown. There were suggestions of possibly holding it at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. But with COVID-19 restrictions needing to be considered, only a handful of the usual fans will be able to watch the fight live.
The next fight of Alvarez may come as a surprise for most. The Mexican is gearing up for a fight with mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim, a fight that will happen on Feb. 27 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Alvarez is a heavy favorite to prevail over his Turkish opponent.
Regardless, the side of Yildirim vows to put up a better showing compared to Callum Smith. Alvarez dominated the Briton in their Dec. 19 outing and won via unanimous decision. This allowed Alvarez to walk away with the WBA, The Ring and WBC super middleweight titles.
Saunders also fought in December, facing Martin Murray in a WBO super middleweight title defense. The Englishman won that via unanimous decision but already hinted prior that he was looking to revive talks to fight Alvarez.
It may only be a matter of time before the Alvarez vs. Saunders is officially announced. For now, the “Mexican Brawler’s” focus is Yildirim, someone he should not take lightly.
