Billy Joe Saunders ‘has the style’ to beat Canelo as blockbuster unification fight draws near, claims Eddie Hearn
EDDIE HEARN reckons Billy Joe Saunders has ‘the style’ to end Canelo Alvarez’s long unbeaten run.
The WBO super-middleweight champion is set to take on Canelo in a unification fight in May, provided the hard-hitting Mexican gets past Anvi Yildirim this weekend.
And Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn reckons the fleet-footed southpaw has all the tools to hand the pound-for-pound king his first loss in eight years.
Hearn told Fight Hub TV: “Billy Joe Saunders for a long time has said he will beat Canelo Alvarez. He has the style to beat him.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I think if there’s anyone in the division that will beat or could beat Canelo, it’s Billy Joe Saunders — because he has the style and the movement and he has something different in his head.
“No fear. He can come out and he boxes and he moves and he flows, you know.
“Other fighters come out (tense). Same with Yildirim. That’s why this will be a good fight because Yildirim — no fear.
“He’ll come out, take his time, two or three rounds and then Joel Diaz will say to him ‘right, now’s your chance, go for it.’
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“And he’ll let his hands go. But that’s very dangerous, but it’s exciting.”
Canelo hasn’t tasted defeat since being schooled by Floyd Mayweather in September 2013.
And although he has full confidence in Saunders, Hearn admits the Brit will go into the contest as a huge underdog.
He added: “I think (Saunders) is an underdog in the fight (against Canelo).
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“But he may be a guy who has a better chance than anybody to beat him, because he’s a bit crazy and he won’t fear and he’s slick.
“We keep saying Canelo has struggled against slick fighters, but this is when he wasn’t as good as he is now.
“So people talk about the Lara fight, the Floyd Mayweather fight, the Trout fight, but he was 40% of the fighter that he is now.”
Canelo’s mandatory defence of his WBC super-middleweight crown will take place in Miami, Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning.