Canelo vs Billy Joe Saunders LIVE: Fight updates, result and undercard
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez v Billy Joe Saunders LIVE: All the action from the hotly anticipated blockbuster super-middleweight clash in Texas in front of over 70,000 fans
- Mexico’s Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez faces Billy Joe Saunders at the AT&T Stadium
- Saunders is unbeaten in 30 fights and bullish over causing an upset
- Canelo, who risks his WBC, WBA (super) and The Ring titles, is the favourite
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders are finally locking horns in their hugely anticipated showdown in Texas.
Mexican Alvarez, 30, risks his WBC and WBA world super-middleweight titles, while the unbeaten Brit Saunders, 31, puts his WBO belt on the line.
Follow all the action LIVE with Sportsmail’s JACK BEZANTS, alongside updates from JEFF POWELL ringside in Texas.
Host commentator
A tentative start, Saunders with his trademark wide stance as Canelo takes the centre of the ring in the early exchanges. Saunders throws a few early jabs, one at best very lightly brushes Canelo.
The first punch from Canelo was an uppercut, Saunders returns with a jab. Canelo gets Saunders into a corner and throws a body shot, the crowd erupt. But Saunders is looking sharp, he bumped Canelo off in the corner and got behind his jab. Canelo comes again with a body shot.
An unbelievable noise as Canelo’s name is screamed by Buffer. The fighters touch gloves. HERE WE GO!
Buffer introduces the fighters. Saunders, in the red corner, booed once more as Buffer references his perfect unbeaten fighting record.
Unsurprisingly, it’s the opposite for Canelo in the blue corner. Canelo is fighting in teal-coloured pair of gloves and shorts, with a gold trim.
How has Saunders handled that? It was a long time he was kept waiting in the ring. Some mind games from the Mexican there. Both fighters are now in the ring and we are starting in moments.
The man himself emerges amid the singing and dancing and he’s getting involved too, bouncing up and down on the spot and throwing a few punches into the air as the band play around him.
Fireworks are going off by the ring, green and red to acknowledge the colours of his country. And now, he is heading ringside and the voice of the crowd is booming.
There are an array of Mexican dancers and singers that are putting on such a show I haven’t even seen Canelo himself for the last couple of minutes… the crowd are enjoying it though.
But the man himself looks perfectly relaxed. He is soaking in every moment as he looks out at the packed AT&T stadium in front of him. There are plenty of boos but Saunders doesn’t look bothered in the slightest.
He’s wearing some bright yellow boxing gloves and Saunders is strutting into the ring with as much swag as you’d expect for a man wearing gloves like that. He takes his place in the right and as the lights fall once again, the boos flick to piercing cheers.
‘Here is the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Let’s get this party started!’ he roars and more than 70,000 fans scream back at him.
A reminder that this is what Saunders is up against tonight
Plenty of jeers and whistles as the Union Jack appears on screen for ‘God Save the Queen’. Saunders and his team are in a huddle, one final teamtalk before they head out there.
Not long to go now…
Saunders and Fury are very close and the Gypsy King has nailed his colours to the mast in backing his fellow Brit.
‘I go back a long way with Billy, I know what he is capable of,’ Fury told DAZN just now. ‘I’m expecting great things tonight. I’m not too sure he has to show anything he hasn’t done before – he is very hard to beat.
‘People come to fight Canelo and lost before they got there. Not Billy Joe. People screaming against him will make him fight better. I really do believe Billy Joe beats Canelo on points tonight in America.’
It’s something that can’t be underplayed, I don’t think. It has felt impossible for such a long time but with over 60,000 spectators in an arena for the first time in such a long time, it could well impact proceedings tonight.
Everybody in the stadium is roaring in excitement at present. Not long now…
Canelo is perhaps the biggest star in boxing at present but Billy Joe Saunders is not short of the ability or the self confidence that could see him push Alvarez tonight.
Saunders is unbeaten in 30 fights but he’s never fought anybody quite like this guy before. If he did win, it would be one of the biggest victories for a British fighter in the sport.
Broadcasters DAZN caught a quick word with Canelo on the way in to the stadium this evening. The Mexican was asked if Saunders got under his skin this week, particularly by his complaints over the size of the ring.
‘I don’t care about it, big or small,’ Canelo said. ‘I am going into my yard to win the fight.’
A little bit of controversy in the final fight on the undercard here with an abrupt stoppage from the referee in the clash between Elwin Soto and Katsunari Takayama.
Takayama was fighting for the last time in his career and the stoppage was against him. He wasn’t pleased and whipped up the crowd by throwing some shadow punches in the ring to show how strong he still felt. It was, at best, a compassionate refereeing call.
Let’s hope we get none of that for the main event.
I mentioned in my previous post how well Canelo is supported and here are a couple of pictures of his most ardent fans arriving at the stadium earlier on in the evening in America.
Both fighters are in their respective dressing rooms. We are, at current, in the final fight of the undercard before the main event. The camera in the stadium just showed a glimpse of each fighter and with there being a fairly strong Mexican contingent in the stadium, a snap of Canelo was met with a mighty roar from the crowd.
What a huge fight we have ahead of us, from wherever you might be joining us in the world. Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders are gearing up to finally get it on in front of 60,000 fans in the AT&T Arena in Texas. We are around 30 minutes away from showtime.
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