In the last installment of the popular Avengers movies, Thanos was on a mission to capture all six Infinity Stones at which he stopped at nothing to achieve. At first he succeeded with relative ease, completing his goal of obtaining all six stones in Avengers: Infinity War.  However, after trying again to recapture the Infinity Stones (you need to watch the movies to figure out how he lost them, since I only have 1,000 words to work with) in the Avengers: Endgame he was stopped, as it took a special kind of person in Tony Stark (Iron Man) to put an end to Thanos’s reign of terror.

To be clear, I’m not calling the consensus pound-for-pound best fighter in the world Canelo Alvarez a genocidal war lord by any means necessary. However, I certainly am comparing his quest to conquer the super middleweight division very reminiscent of that of Thanos. After winning multiple belts in four weight classes, Canelo has made it clear he wants to clean out the super middleweight division, collecting all the belts to become the undisputed champion at 168 pounds.  On Saturday night Alvarez will attempt to continue his dominance of his new division by adding another belt to his collection. However just like Tony Stark, there is a worthy adversary willing to meet in the middle of the squared circle, by the name of Billy Joe Saunders.

CANELO ALVAREZ vs BILLY JOE SAUNDERS – MAY  8 (DAZN)

Canelo Alvarez has proven time in and time out he is the best boxer on the planet at present, with a 55-1-2 record and 37 KOS. His only loss came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather via decision, when he was a young up and comer not even close to entering his prime.  Fast forward to present day, Canelo is not only in his prime but extremely active as well, something fairly rare to see from a bona fide superstar in this day and age. Canelo has won multiple world championships in numerous weight classes, constantly chasing after the big fights in the sport in hopes of further cementing his legacy.  This is a nice change of pace from an era where we saw tune up fights for big bouts that never seemed to materialize.  Canelo moved up to super middleweight in December of 2020, where he easily beat the previous undefeated Callum Smith via decision, who said after the bout that he wasn’t prepared for how good Canelo actually turned out to be.  Canelo won the WBA and WBC super-middle weight titles in that fight, then went on to dismantle the WBC mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim back in February in just three rounds.  The 30-year-old veteran’s quest for the 4 major titles at 168 pounds continues on Saturday in Arlington, where he is set to meet WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders.

When looking back at Canelo’s storied career at his induction hall of fame ceremony speaking of the legends and tough fights he took in order to cement his legacy, Billy Joe Saunders name will definitely be recalled. Like Alvarez, Saunders is a multiple division champion, moving up in weight to capture the WBO title with a unanimous decision over Shefat Isufi in 2019.  The one knack against Billy Joe is however his knockout power.  At 30-0, Saunders has just 14 knockouts to his name, and since winning his first title and seeing a notable step up in competition has won by decision six times in eight bouts.

That being said, Saunders is a technician in the ring, as he has seemingly perfected the craft of hitting but not getting hit, a pretty valuable skill in the sport of boxing if you ask me.  The WBO champion has faced some hard hitters in his career, namely Chris Eubank Jr and David Lemieux, walking away relatively unscathed with his hand raised.  Nevertheless, I’m well aware Canelo Alvarez is a different beast than anyone Billy Joe Saunders has fought in his career, so what’s the play here?

As good as Billy Joe Saunders is, Canelo Alvarez I believe is a level above almost anyone he steps into the square circle with.  Saunders is one of the most technically sound boxers in the world in my opinion, and so is Canelo Alvarez but with power.  Nevertheless, the last time Canelo fought someone with the pedigree of Saunders, an undefeated fighter at 168 pounds who had never been hurt was Callum Smith, who took the hard hitting Alvarez the distance. A couple bouts prior to that, the then undefeated Gennadiy Golovkin went to the scorecards in back to back fights with Canelo.  What this tells me is that Canelo hasn’t proved he could end a fighter’s night who’s never been KO'd before, so why trust him now, especially against a fighter who takes flush shots as seldomly as Billy Joe Saunders.  I think Alvarez gets it done on Saturday night, but not before the final scorecards are read out.  If Billy-Joe Saunders does pull off the upset which some pundits are actually predicting, it will most certainly be by decision.  Take the fight to go the distance here, but if you’re feeling a little riskier, Canelo by decision is plus money.

Cody’s Pick:  Fight to go the Distance -138

Cody’s Slightly Riskier Pick:  Canelo Alvarez by Decision +137