Canelo v Saunders betting tips: Titles on the line in Texas
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Boxing Preview and Odds for super-middleweight showdown
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has the chance to enhance his reputation as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing when he defends his WBC and WBA super-middleweight crowns against WBO titlist Billy Joe Saunders in Texas on Saturday night.
The Mexican superstar is a four-division world champion and is the clear favourite at 1/6 in the Canelo v Saunders odds to further improve his record which currently stands at 55 wins, two draws and just one loss.
The fight against Saunders in front of 70,000 fans at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington will be Alvarez’s third in the space of five months, having beaten Callum Smith for the WBA and vacant WBC titles before seeing off mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim.
Alvarez has the ambition to claim all four major world titles at 168lbs – with a contest against IBF champion Caleb Plant mooted to occur later in the year should the 30-year-old Guadalajara fighter get past Saunders on Saturday night.
He has enjoyed an impressive 14-fight unbeaten run since losing to Floyd Mayweather in September 2013 but faces a tough test this weekend in a fight which is 4/5 to go the distance.
Slick southpaw can pose problems
Saunders may be the 9/2 underdog but his record (30-0, 14KOs) proves he deserves respect and he is 18/1 to win by knockout or 6/1 on points.
At his absolute best Saunders is a slick and elusive counter-punching southpaw – the type of opponent Alvarez has struggled against in the past.
“I do expect this to be a very competitive fight,” Alvarez said. “I think he is a little bit more complicated as a fighter. It’s going to be a tough one in the first rounds.”
Alvarez is 4/11 to win in the second half of the fight or by decision if those odds appeal in terms of Canelo v Saunders betting tips, while rounds seven and eight are seen as the most likely rounds for him to enjoy victory at 11/1 each.
Saunders threatened to call the fight off on Tuesday in a dispute over the size of the ring and he failed to turn up for the first head-to-head of the week.
Asked whether he anticipated Saunders, 31, attempting to get under his skin in the days leading up to the fight, Alvarez, who is well-known for his laidback attitude, added: “He might try to do that but he won’t achieve that.”
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
