THE contracts have now been signed and Billy Joe Saunders will be the latest Brit to face the fearsome pound-for-pound star and guaranteed all-time great, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. 

The fight is scheduled to take place on May 8, the weekend of Mexico’s most important national holiday, Cinco de Mayo, at either the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — home of the Dallas Cowboys — or at the Allegiant Stadium in Vegas, which is home to the Raiders. On the line will be Saunders’s WBO super middleweight belt and Canelo’s WBA and WBV versions of the same title. 

Let no-one be in doubt that Saunders is up against it. The fact it’s been reported that he was two stone over the 12-stone super middleweight limit when the fight was announced does not bode well. Neither does the report that he’s been unable to train properly due to illness. This being said, it would not be a surprise if this information has been either fabricated or exaggerated for the purposes of mind games.