Billy Joe Saunders has accused fellow super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez of fighting big name opponents when they are past their peak and present less of a threat.
WBA ‘Super’ and WBC champion Canelo (54-1-2, 36 KOs) has agreed to unify with WBO title holder Saunders on May 8, should the Mexican navigate what appears to be a straightforward mandatory defence against Avni Yildirim in Miami on February 27.
But while many consider Canelo to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing today, Saunders believes the Mexican has built that career on a foundation of faded names. Miguel Cotto, Sergey Kovalev and Shane Mosley were certainly past their primes whereas there is an argument that Canelo held off facing rival Gennady Golovkin until the Kazakh was past his destructive peak.
“He’s boxed all of the greats and beaten all of the greats….at the end of their careers,” two-weight champion Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) told The Athletic.
“His team is very good at picking people at the end of their careers. They’re very, very good at picking people just on the downward spiral.”
Saunders’ preparation hasn’t always matched his talent, but he’s promising to leave no stone unturned as he punishes himself to be in optimum shape for his showdown with Canelo.
“It’s been my dream since I was a kid. This is what dreams are made of and I can make my biggest dream come true here,” he said. “My life for the next three months is absolutely hell.
“I’m putting myself through hell and back and I’m prepared to live in hell every single day to win. Forget about the money. I want to win, I need to win and it’s a must thing for me to win.”