One fighter will get closer to the first undisputed super middleweight championship in boxing history when WBC, WBA (Super) and The Ring champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez faces off against WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday.
The massive 168-pound showdown will take place in front of a live crowd of more than 70,000, breaking the attendance record for an indoor boxing event in the United States. And who better than Alvarez, boxing’s current pound-for-pound king, to be in the main event?
Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) has pursued the undisputed championship since beating Callum Smith for the WBA (Super) and vacant WBC crown in December. He followed that performance with a third-round stoppage of mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in February before turning right back around in hopes of collecting another title against Saunders on Saturday night.
Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) is a two-division world champion who claimed the WBO title in May 2019 by defeating Shefat Isufi via unanimous decision. He has made two consecutive title defenses, but his opponent in Texas will be his toughest test by far.
There has been some bad blood between the two heading into the fight; Canelo promised a knockout, while Saunders aims to befuddle the Mexican superstar with his technical prowess.
Who will come out on top? Stay tuned as Sporting News will have live coverage of tonight’s fight card.
MORE: Watch Canelo vs. Saunders live on DAZN
Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders live updates, highlights
10:41 p.m.: In an absurd finish, the referee stopped the fight in the missed of back and forth action. Takayama wasn’t in trouble nor was he taking a lot of punishment at the moment of the stoppage. It was egregious to stop it at that very moment and disrespectful to Takayama who was in a title fight and hurt far, far worse earlier in the fight. That was an awful stoppage for a Japanese legend who was fighting a lot better in the second half of the fight.
10:30 p.m.: Takayama has decided that if he’s going to lose, he’s going out on his shield and is making this a fun fight by going on the offensive. Soto is still hurting him and nearly finished him in the sixth round but he’s won over the fans with this effort. How much longer can it go?
10:17 p.m.: Takayama is clearly a shell of his former self as he’s taking a beating from Soto through three rounds. It’s clear that this won’t last long as Soto is looking for a brutal knockout. It should come sooner than later.
9:58 p.m.: Up next is Elwin Soto vs. Katsunari Takayama for Soto’s WBO light-flyweight title. Takayama has only fought twice in nearly five years. He’s going to have his hands full with Elwin Soto, who has won 16 fights in a row since losing his third professional fight.
9:53 p.m.: Well, Conway didn’t get the finish but he closed strong. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as Cissokho won a split decision was some interesting scores of 95-94 96-93 & 92-97. The 97-92 score for Conway was incredibly wide but it seems that the right fighter won despite the knockdown.
9:43 p.m.: Conway finally broke through in the ninth round with a pair of bruising uppercuts to put Cissokho down and nearly out. That finally got this crowd out of their seats. Let’s see how the final round plays out.
9:28 p.m.: Sorry, y’all. This Conway vs. Cissokho fight just isn’t fun to watch. Not a lot of punches being thrown through six rounds. More people are likely watching the SWV vs. Xscape VERZUZ battle going on than this fight.
9:10 p.m.: We’re live for Canelo-Saunders and Kieron Conway is facing Souleymane Cissokho in a super welterweight showdown to kick off the main card. Prior to this fight we had a bizarre scene when Frank Sanchez defeated Nagy Aguilera by technical decision when Aguilera decided he couldn’t continue after a right hand barely grazed the back of his head. He definitely wins the acting award for tonight but it didn’t matter because he was going to lose anyway as the judges had it a 60-54 shutout for Sanchez. The crowd wasn’t happy with that nonsense. Also, Marc Castro improved to 3-0 with a 4th round TKO over Irving Castillo and both Keyshawn and Kelvin Davis turned in winning performances.
Canelo vs. Saunders start time
- Main card: 8 p.m. ET
- Canelo-Saunders main event: 11 p.m. ET (approximate)
The Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders main card launches at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night, with the champions expected to make their ring walks at approximately 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. ET, depending on the length of the earlier fights.
How to watch Canelo vs. Saunders
- Subscription: $19.99/month or $99.99/year
The Canelo vs. Saunders fight will stream live globally on DAZN, to more than 200 countries and territories, including the U.S. and Canada.
Those interested in watching the fight can find DAZN on a number of different systems, including, but not limited to, Amazon Fire TV/stick, Android, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, iPhone and iPad, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Roku. The DAZN app is also available on LG, Samsung and Vizio smart TVs, as well as Xfinity X1 and Flex.
Viewers can also find it on DAZN.com using browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.
Click here to learn more about DAZN.
Canelo vs. Saunders fight card
- Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders for the Canelo’s WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine super-middleweight titles, and Saunders’ WBO title
- Marc Castro def. Irving Castillo via 4th round TKO (2:04)
- Frank Sanchez def. Nagy Aguilera via technical decision (60-54, 60-54 & 60-54)
- Elwin Soto def. Katsunari Takayama via TKO (2:44) to retain WBO light-flyweight title
- Souleymane Cissokho def. Kieron Conway for the WBA Intercontinental super-welterweight title (95-94 96-93 & 92-97)
- Keyshawn Davis def. Jose Antonia Meza via unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54 & 60-54)
- Kelvin Davis def. Jan Maslaek via unanimous decision (38-37, 38-37 & 38-37)