Alvarez v Saunders prediction and boxing betting tips: Saunders up for the fight

Free boxing tips, best bets and analysis for Canelo Alvarez v Billy Joe Saunders at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Saturday night.

Where to watch

DAZN, approx 4am Sunday

Best bet

Fight to go the distance
1pt 10-11 Betfred

Big fight preview

Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders get in the ring together for a mega-fight in Dallas in the early hours of Sunday morning and it’s everything you could want from a boxing bout.

The contest brings pits Alvarez, the WBA and WBC champion, a superstar and arguably boxing’s pound-for-pound king, against the untapped potential of unbeaten WBO belt-holder Saunders.

There’s no end to the layers of intrigue in this super-middleweight unification fight and it looks like being a fantastic tussle in Texas.

There have been some famous away victories in boxing down the years, but if Saunders were to win in the AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, it would surely go down as one of the biggest ever. Not in terms of price, as the Hatfield hitter is just a 5-1 shot to win the bout, but the fact that Covid-19 restrictions have prevented British fans travelling and that the 60,000 in attendance will be almost universally supporting Canelo.

Alvarez is an elite-level operator and recent wins over Gennady Golovkin, Danny Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev give an idea of the task that Saunders faces.

Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Ryan Rhodes and Matthew Hatton are the six Brits who have tried and failed to beat the Mexican and Saunders bids to make it seventh time lucky.

The main issue for Saunders, aside from being in against a world-class opponent in hostile territory, is the weight. Canelo successfully made the step up to light-heavyweight to beat Kovalev in 2019 and he has that power back down at super-middle. It’s arguable that Saunders is more effective at middleweight and he will have to bridge the gap against a fighter who is huge for the division.

However, the Brit is a slick and awkward southpaw, and although he has at times underwhelmed, Saunders has produced on the big occasions.

The Hatfield hitter beat Andy Lee to win the WBO middleweight title and defended that belt against David Lemieux in the Canadian’s back yard.

Those opponents are short of the level Canelo is mixing in, but Saunders is still unbeaten and there is every chance of some untapped potential. Certainly, the 31-year-old is going to be in excellent physical condition and that hasn’t always been the case.

Saunders usually has plenty to say for himself in the build-up to fights, but it seems that he does genuinely believe that he can win this one and not being beaten before stepping into the ring against the Mexican is half the battle.

Canelo is a brilliant fighter, but his most effective weapon is counter-punching and Saunders has the skills to avoid getting caught by the Mexican’s heavy hands. It’s possible that the Brit may look to be busy with his own work in order to nullify Alvarez or he could look to stay out of range in his awkward southpaw stance.

It’s going to be a tough task for Saunders to get the decision in Dallas, but going the full 12 rounds may not be as difficult as the prices suggest.

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