Billy Joe Saunders fires shot at Canelo Alvarez by claiming Mexican built a career off fighting boxers past their prime

Published

6th February 2021

BILLY JOE SAUNDERS fired a shot at Canelo Alvarez by accusing the Mexican of building a career off fighting boxers past their prime.

Canelo is considered the pound-for-pound king with a long list of legendary wins to his name.

Billy Joe Saunders took a swipe at Canelo

Super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez

But Saunders – in line to face Alvarez this year – reckons his record is deceiving and the product of some smart management.

He told The Athletic: “He’s boxed all of the greats and beaten all of the greats, at the end of their careers.

“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.”

Canelo beat all-time greats Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto and Sergey Kovalev while the trio were all coming towards the end of their runs.

But he has notched wins against Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and Callum Smith – all champions at the time.

He dethroned Brit Smith in December to win the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine super-middleweight belts.

Now the four-division champ has to face challenger Avni Yildirim in a mandatory defence on February 27.

But Canelo, 30, and Saunders, 31, already have a deal in place for a unification.

Canelo with his next opponent Avni Yildirim

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Saunders, who has the WBO belt, said: “It’s the biggest fight of my life.

“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.

“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.”

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