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Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders predictions: Boxing world including Tyson Fury and Mike Tyson on picks to win fight
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS will bid to shock the world next month by dethroning pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez.
The Welwyn warrior will throw down with the hard-hitting Mexican in an eagerly-anticipated super-middleweight title unification bout on May 8.
Billy Joe Saunders will face Canelo Alvarez on May 8[/caption]
The hard-hitting Canelo is the favourite to win the super-middleweight showdown[/caption]
Saunders, 31, goes into his showdown with Canelo as a huge underdog – despite never having tasted defeat.
But some fight fans are predicting the slick southpaw to win the Dallas dust-up, which will take place in front of a capacity crowd at Cowboys Stadium.
Here, SunSport reveals predictions for the tasty 168lb affair from some of the biggest names in boxing.
Mike Tyson
Iron Mike has tipped Canelo to run through Saunders, backing the Mexican to get the Brit out of the ring in TWO rounds.
He told ES News: “Two rounds. He (Billy Joe Saunders) might run though. I think he’s gonna run a little.
“He has good moves, but Canelo might wear him down.”
Prediction: Canelo
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Tyson Fury
The Gypsy King reckons WBO 168lb champ Saunders will put on a clinic on May 8, telling Behind The Gloves: “I think Billy Joe gives him a boxing lesson.
“That’s what I’m here to see and that’s what I think will happen.
“I think everyone raves on about Canelo and how good he is and how he’s such a great guy but I just think every time Billy Joe steps into the pressure cooker he delivers, much like myself.”
He added: “Canelo’s tasted defeat and we know he can be outboxed because we’ve seen it. [Floyd] Mayweather outboxed him convincingly.
Tyson Fury is backing Billy Joe Saunders to get the job done against Canelo[/caption]
“He’s had a couple of sticky fights, struggled in a couple of southpaw fights. He struggled with [Erislandy] Lara.
“If Lara was a bit more of a name, a bit more of a draw, he probably would’ve got the decision.
“Billy Joe is a very good boxer, a very slick southpaw, and I know he’ll fancy this one.
“What’s on the line here is him [Saunders] being a world champion twice or going down as a great in the sport.
“This is what’s on the line here. He’s going to shock a lot of people and it’s going to be an easier fight then people think it is.”
Prediction: Saunders
Demetrius Andrade
WBO middleweight champ Andrade reckons Saunders will be bounced from the ranks of the unbeaten if he fights the same way he did against Martin Murray last December.
He told Boxing Scene: “May the best man win.
“Canelo showed that he was maybe able to carry a little power [up to the 168-pound division].
“He’s trying to be a little more agile and mobile, or whatever.
“Just going off the last fight, Saunders looked like s**t when he fought Martin Murray. He couldn’t do anything.
“He really didn’t dominate him in the way that he should’ve, the way somebody supposedly that good, that talented, should’ve done against Martin Murray, who’s been out the ring for however many years.
“If he brings that same type of fight to Canelo, I think Canelo’s gonna beat him.”
Prediction: Canelo
Demetrius Andrade backs Canelo to win[/caption]
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Chris Eubank Jr
Saunders’ bitter rival is expecting his fellow Brit to be brutally dismantled by the imperious Canelo.
Eubank told talkSPORT: “Saunders is going to get hurt. I’m going to be putting a £10,000 bet on Canelo to knock Saunders out.
“That’s what I think is going to happen; I think Saunders is going to get knocked out.”
Prediction: Canelo
Roy Jones Jr
The American great pointed to Canelo’s loss to Floyd Mayweather and split-decision win against Erislandy Lara as reasons to why BJS can cause an upset.
Jones told iFL TV: “I give Billy Joe a really good chance.
“The reason being if you think about Canelo Alvarez, the toughest two fights he’s had in his career, to me, where Floyd Mayweather Jr, who is a pure boxer and a southpaw by the name Erislandy Lara, who is a boxer.
“So if you think about those two guys, whose Billy Joe closest related to in the boxing ring? Those two guys.
“He’s a boxer, he’s southpaw and he can box, but he thinks of boxing first, much like Tyson Fury.”
Prediction: Saunders has the tools to get the job done
Sugarhill Steward
Fury’s coach has close ties to Saunders due to the Gypsy King’s alliance to his friend.
And the trainer wants BJS to use the Kronk Gym mentality and take out Canelo, to avoid leaving it in the hands of the judges.
SugarHill, speaking via the MyBettingSites.co.uk blog, said: “Why not go for the knockout against Canelo?
“The best way to know that you won that fight for sure is to get the knockout – in fact, that is the only way. There is nothing else to do.
“He can outbox someone for ten or 12 rounds and the decision goes the other way still because it’s somebody else’s opinion and decision.
“So why can’t Billy be the deciding factor?”
Prediction: Saunders can we by KO
Trainer Sugarhill Steward and Tyson Fury[/caption]
