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WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders will be landing the biggest payday of his career when he squares off against boxing’s biggest breadwinner in Canelo Alvarez on May 8 at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) said he’s not interested in breaking the bank, or adulation, should he come away victorious against Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs), the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine super middleweight champion.
“I know when I go to Texas I’ll have 70,000 Mexicans screaming against me. But the gypsies are coming out in force. The English, Irish, Scots the Welsh. And I’ll be flying that gypsy flag very high for all of them. And I know I’ll have my share of support… It’s always good to see an underdog win and I know I’m the underdog this time. The clear underdog,” Saunders said on DAZN’s program “Off the Cuff.”
“As I say, If I am prepared to leave my kids the very next day. To win this means everything to me everything. Absolutely everything more than money. More than fame. More than everything. I want to win this so badly it’s a joke. I do not care about breathing as long as I win.”
The brash boxer Saunders is certainly as slick in front of the camera as he is in the ring. He talks a big game but will need to back it up against the no-nonsense Alvarez, who boasts boxing’s best resume.
Saunders believes his hit list is just as credible even though his dossier doesn’t amount to that of Alvarez’s.
“Over this side of the pond, I have done my fair share to get where I am at. I have done my fair share,” said Saunders. “And I believe that on the night I will be victorious in God’s name 100%. There is no doubt in my mind. Whatever I need to do on that night I will do.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com