Middleweight Saunders May Fight on Canelo’s September 17th Undercard

Billy Joe Saunders, the reigning WBO World Middleweight title holder, could potentially land a giant fight with Canelo Alvarez, as Alvarez’s Golden Boy Productions has been in contact with Frank Warren, Saunders’ promoter, to have the British fighter showcase his talents on the undercard of Canelo’s scheduled September 17th fight.

If the two sides are able to come to an agreement, it would entail the guarantee that Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KO) would make his middleweight debut in December by clashing for Saunders’ belt.

While Canelo has been considered the lineal Middleweight champion since outpointing Miguel Cotto last November, he has yet to actually fight at the full division limit, repeatedly having his opponent meet him at a convenient catch-weight. A deal with fellow Middleweight juggernaut Gennady “GGG” Golovkin was in place for this fall, however Alvarez and his team decided to vacate the belt to allow the fighter more time to become accustomed to being a full-fledged 160 pounder.

Although he is preparing to move up in weight, Canelo is actually moving down to Junior Middleweight in order to challenge titlist Liam Smith on the HBO card taking place in September. Saunders (23-0-0, 12 KO) and his team are currently working on an opponent for the 17th, and luckily finding someone willing to challenge the weakest of the current Middleweight champions should be no trouble whatsoever.

If Saunders is able to get a spot on the card being held at the AT&T Arena in Arlington, Texas, it would all but guarantee him a huge payday in December with a gigantic fight against Alvarez, who has become one of the most marketable boxers in the game. The winner of the December bout would inevitably see more pressure to finally take a fight with “GGG”, as both fighters have been heavily scrutinized for ducking the Kazakhstan native.

Saunders is currently one of the top ranked men in his division, making it the perfect test for Alvarez to see if he is ready to take on even more of a challenge in Golovkin. The Brit has been inactive since winning his title from Andy Lee this past December, so it will be ideal for Billy Joe to wear off some ring rust with a stay-busy type of opponent on September 17th, before being throw in against one of the world’s top pound for pound fighters come December.