Canelo on Cinco

AT THE time of writing, Billy Joe Saunders is close to agreeing terms to fight Mexican legend Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on May 2 in Las Vegas, thus continuing Canelo’s now annual ritual of fighting on the weekend of the most important national holiday in the Mexican calendar, Cinco de Mayo. 

While officially this annual holiday marks Mexico’s victory over the French empire at the Battle of Puebla on May 5 1862, in more recent times it has come to be increasingly associated with the battles being fought by the country’s red-haired ring phenomenon. Indeed Canelo is a fighter who’s attained the status of national institution in a country the benighted condition of which calls to mind the sage words of Bertolt Brecht: “Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.”

In this respect he joins and stands on the shoulders of an exalted group of fighters from Latin and Central America — countries located south of the US border and cursed by grinding poverty and societal dislocation in consequence. As with Canelo today, these were men who entered the ring as one of the few sources of national pride.

Fellow Mexican greats Salvador Sanchez, Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera, Panamanian legend Roberto Duran, Nicaragua’s Alexis Arguello and Argentina’s Carlos Monzon knew that every punch thrown was a punch thrown for millions of their fellow countrymen and women at home.

Bearing the weight of national pride and expectation can make or break a fighter. In the case of Canelo, it’s inspired him to astonishing heights of success. This is evident in a record of 53 victories from 56 fights as a pro, with just one defeat and two draws. At still only 29-years-old, the number of fights he’s had is remarkable. And that’s why, with irreproachable justification, he’s been listed in the top five pound-for-pound fighters list of every serious boxing writer for so long now that it’s hard to remember when he wasn’t. It’s also why Saunders will need to put on the performance of his career if he’s going to stand a chance on May 2. 

One thing Billy Joe Saunders doesn’t lack, though, is belief in his own ability. An undefeated record after 29 fights doesn’t lie. And, yes, though it’s a record which includes a number of pedestrian performances against lesser opposition, Saunders is a fighter who thrives on being tested against superior opponents and who never fails to rise to the occasion in the event.

It’s why, at this later stage of Billy Joe’s career, the Canelo fight comes into the category of a godsend. It’s a fight he’s been doggedly pursuing for some years, first under Frank Warren and now Eddie Hearn — who takes the credit for clinching it.

Saunders has a strong argument for being recognised as the best pure boxer from these shores right now and one of the best Britain has ever produced. A slick southpaw with excellent feet and ring awareness, at his best he’s a joy to watch. But against Canelo in Vegas on the weekend of Cinco de Mayo, it’s hard to see him getting a decision even if he’s the clear winner over the stretch — not unless he arranges for the families of the judges to be taken hostage beforehand.

It’s hard to see him winning by stoppage either, given that he’s not a fighter known for his power and given that Canelo has been in with some of the hardest punchers in the game — chief among them Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev — and prevailed.

But in boxing anything can happen and anything’s possible, and Billy Joe Saunders and his team will no doubt prepare to face for Canelo with this in mind.

Fury vs Wilder III — a trilogy and travesty 

Tyson Fury didn’t just defeat Deontay Wilder in Vegas on February 22, he schooled and dominated him to the point where it was less a fight and more a public execution.

Very few beforehand, including me, thought Fury capable of such a wonderfully efficient and aggressive dismantling of the most fearsome one-punch heavyweight there’s ever been. He literally punched Wilder from ring post to ring post over seven rounds that the Bronze Bomber will not soon forget.

Be in no doubt that assistant trainer Mark Breland’s decision to throw in the towel was an act of mercy, even though Wilder temporarily fired him for having dared done so. But the truth is, by this point in the fight, Wilder was moving perilously close to calling Fury daddy, he was being battered so brutally.

Quite staggering then that the now former WBC champion would be so eager to face Fury again in an instant rematch. While it may suggest commendable courage and pride, the wisdom is questionable.

Much has been made of Wilder’s reasoning for his defeat in the last fight, claiming that the costume he wore to the ring was so heavy that it weakened his legs. Such an outlandish excuse has unsurprisingly earned him a barrage of ridicule and his reputation and standing has taken a hit as a result. This being said, to read the comments of some you’d think he’d turned overnight from a heavyweight with more knockouts on his record than any other to the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz.

No-one, least of all Tyson Fury or his team, should dare make the mistake of discounting completely Wilder’s potency. Just as one victory isn’t enough to establish a fighter’s entire legacy, neither is one defeat.

But even so, a third fight between Fury and Wilder so soon after the second is not one that most boxing fans and people within the sport want to see. As for Fury himself, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finds it difficult to drum up the motivation to endure the rigours of another hard training camp to prepare for Wilder again so soon.

Clearly, the heavyweight clash that currently matters most is Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua. The fighters know it, the fans certainly know it, and so do the broadcasters and those involved on the business side. 

The only man who doesn’t know it is Deontay Wilder. 

John’s new book — This Boxing Game: A Journey in Beautiful Brutality — is available on March 16 from all major booksellers.