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The super middleweight division will be on full display this coming Saturday, May 8 as Canelo Álvarez and Billy Joe Saunders square off in the biggest fight of the year to date. Álvarez brings the WBA, WBC, and The Ring Magazine titles to the ring while Saunders brings the WBO title. The winner could face Caleb Plant for his IBF title to fully unify the division.
A potential heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury would top this one in terms of spectacle, but given the uncertainty around the heavyweights, this is the leading candidate for biggest fight of the year.
How to watch Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders
Álvarez and Saunders will face off for the WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine super middleweight titles. The super middleweight champoionship bout will take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the main card kicking off at 8:00 p.m. ET. DAZN will broadcast the showdown worldwide, except for the country of Mexico. Ring walks for Canelo vs. Sunders are expected at around approximately 11:00 p.m. ET., depending on the length of the preceding fights.
To watch the fight, you’ll need a DAZN subscription. You can subscribe on a monthly basis for $19.99, or you can purchase an annual subscription to DAZN for $99.99. Once you have a subscription, you can watch the fight on approved DAZN apps using your iPhone or Android mobile devices. DAZN is also available on Apple TV devices, fireTV sticks, Roku players and a number of smart TVs.
Fighter history
Álvarez enters the fight with a record of 55-1-2 with 37 KOs. He holds the WBA, WBC, and The Ring super middleweight titles, which he claimed with a unanimous decision victory over Callum Smith in December 2020. He successfully defended the titles against Avni Yildrim when the latter’s corner threw in the towel after three rounds. Álvarez has won all three of his fights since moving up to super middleweight and has won six straight since a draw against Gennadiy Golovkin in a middleweight championship bout. Prior to that, he had won seven straight fights after suffering a majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather at super welterweight.
Saunders enters the fight with a record of 30-0 with 14 KOs. He holds the WBO super middleweight title, which he claimed with a unanimous decision over Shefat Isufi in May 2019. He has successfully defended the title twice. Prior to beating Isufi, Saunders spent the bulk of his career at middleweight where he won several secondary titles before winning the WBO title with a majority decision victory over Andy Lee in December 2015. He made three title defenses and won a fourth fight after a suspension for a banned substance before moving up to super middleweight.
Odds
Moneyline
Álvarez: -770
Saunders: +450
Moneyline (3-way)
Álvarez: -715
Saunders: +475
Tie: +2000
Full card
- Title fight: Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders for Álvarez’s WBC, WBA, and The Ring super middleweight titles and Saunders’ WBO title
- Elwin Soto vs. Katsunari Takayama, for Soto’s WBO junior flyweight title
- Kieron Conway vs. Souleymane Cissokho, junior middleweights
- Frank Sanchez vs. Nagy Aguilera, heavyweights
- Marc Castro vs. Irving Macias Castillo, junior lightweights
- Keyshawn Davis vs. Jose Antonio Meza, lightweights
- Kelvin Davis vs. Jan Marsalek, welterweights
- Christian Alan Gomez Duran vs. TBA, welterweights