Undefeated British southpaw Billy Joe Saunders 30-0 (14) will fare no better than Avni Yildirim 21-3 (12) when he takes on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 55-1-2 (37) on May 8, according to the Mexican superstar’s stablemate Ryan Garcia 21-0 (18).
WBC and WBA super middleweight champion Alvarez, 30, stopped Yildirim in three rounds at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Saturday night.
Garcia sees WBO titleholder Saunders, 31, suffering a similar fate.
“I just see Canelo knocking him out too, but I feel that’ a great fight,” Garcia said to Little Giant Boxing. “Billy Joe Saunders is a great fighter, but he’s not a legendary fighter.”
Alvarez, who struggled against lefthanders Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout in 2014 and 2013 respectively, circumspect in his assessment.
“He’s a difficult fighter, he’s a southpaw, and he has a complicated style. I’m a fighter with a lot of experience, and I’ll be ready for whatever comes,” Alvarez said at the post-fight media conference on Saturday.
“He’s a good fighter, he’s a hard fighter and he’s a southpaw. He likes to talk but I’m going to be ready for him. I’m going to train to be ready for him. Getting the titles motivates me very much.”
Alvarez insists he has improved since his close points decisions over Lara and Trout.
“I’m way better,” said Alvarez, who is planning on facing IBF champion Caleb ‘Sweethands’ Plant 21-0 (12) in September if successful against Saunders. “I’m a more mature fighter, a more complete fighter, and I have a lot more experience.”
Garcia gave himself a pat on the back for calling the correct result in Alvarez’s WBC mandatory title defence against Yildirim.
“I told everybody what’s the deal, 3rd-round knockout,” Garcia said. “It was a good stoppage. It was just going to get a lot worse.
“It was a lot of abuse on that head. You don’t want to keep getting hit with those kinds of shots. He [Yildirim] got caught with that straight right, which I’ve never seen Canelo actually throw a straight right before.
“So that was pretty cool. He got him he out of there, and he shouldn’t have been in there in the ring with him. It was too low of a level, but Canelo made it clear. When you have someone that is not at your level, you make it real clear, ‘Get out of here’.”
Alvarez has made it clear his immediate goal is to become the undisputed 168-pound champion before seeking further challenges.
“[Billy Joe Saunders] is a world champion, we want to go for it and we need to go for it,” he said.
“He’s a very difficult fighter and has a championship, the WBO. People [like Saunders] talk but I’m a very mature fighter and I know how to control myself. All I need to do is go into the ring, win and make history.
“It’s because [being undisputed] hasn’t been done, no one has done it in Latin America. In the world only a few fighters have done it, the best. I want to make history and be one of the best in the world.”
But Saunders says he is not going to show up to simply make up the numbers.
“Canelo, I’m ready to rock and roll,” he said. “You have to dare to be great and you aren’t going to be a great if you don’t beat the greats. I believe I am the only one with the footwork, know-how, skillset, mindset and brain to unlock that door in Canelo.
