Canelo Alvarez believes the vast majority of fight fans want to see him deliver a crushing KO of Billy Joe Saunders in their world super-middleweight title unification at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on Saturday.
The Mexican star is highly motivated by Saunders’ long history of trash talk, which dates back to their days as rival world champions down at middleweight.
He feels that many fight fans will gain satisfaction from him putting the outspoken Englishman firmly in his place.
“90 percent of the people don’t like him,” Canelo told promoter Eddie Hearn on his No Passion No Pointpodcast on BBC. “This fight is different because he has four years talking shit about me.
“Before the first [Gennadiy] Golovkin fight [in 2017] he was there talking shit about me. That’s why it is different for me. I’m the same way. My mind is calm.
“Saturday night it is going to be different, he is in a different level fight now. He’s going to see what is going to happen. This isn’t like [Martin] Murray or other guys he has fought before. I feel a little better, that motivates me more.”
Canelo-Saunders was originally scheduled for May 2020 before the Coronavirus stopped the world in its tracks. One year later, their rivalry will finally be settled in the ring.
Main image: Matchroom Boxing.