Category: Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders

Elwin Soto stops Katsunari Takayama in ninth round

Elwin Soto stopped Katsunari Takayama in the ninth round on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday.

An entertaining back-and-forth fight between Elwin Soto and Katsunari Takayama on Saturday might be remembered for a questionable stoppage.

Soto, the WBO junior flyweight titleholder, stopped the former three-time strawweight champion at 2:44 of the ninth round on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

However, many of those who watched undoubtedly were surprised when referee Laurence Cole stepped in to stop it.

Soto (19-1, 13 KOs) landed the bigger punches throughout the fight, including in the moments before the stoppage. But his 37-year-old Japanese opponent, who hadn’t been stopped since 2003, had not been down in the bout and was fighting back when Cole ended it.

Takayama (32-9, 12 KOs) was fighting for the second time after a four-year hiatus from the sport and took the fight on short notice, which would’ve made a title-winning victory remarkable.

And he certainly fought as if he desperately wanted to become a two-division titleholder, outworking Soto from beginning to end. His problem was that his punches were much lighter than those of Soto, who stunned Takayama with many powershots.

The Mexican, making his third defense, might’ve been able to take out Takayama without the help of Cole. We’ll never know.

[lawrence-related id=20102,20096]

 

Elwin Soto stops Katsunari Takayama in ninth round

Elwin Soto stopped Katsunari Takayama in the ninth round on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday.

An entertaining back-and-forth fight between Elwin Soto and Katsunari Takayama on Saturday might be remembered for a questionable stoppage.

Soto, the WBO junior flyweight titleholder, stopped the former three-time strawweight champion at 2:44 of the ninth round on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

However, many of those who watched undoubtedly were surprised when referee Laurence Cole stepped in to stop it.

Soto (19-1, 13 KOs) landed the bigger punches throughout the fight, including in the moments before the stoppage. But his 37-year-old Japanese opponent, who hadn’t been stopped since 2003, had not been down in the bout and was fighting back when Cole ended it.

Takayama (32-9, 12 KOs) was fighting for the second time after a four-year hiatus from the sport and took the fight on short notice, which would’ve made a title-winning victory remarkable.

And he certainly fought as if he desperately wanted to become a two-division titleholder, outworking Soto from beginning to end. His problem was that his punches were much lighter than those of Soto, who stunned Takayama with many powershots.

The Mexican, making his third defense, might’ve been able to take out Takayama without the help of Cole. We’ll never know.

[lawrence-related id=20102,20096]

 

Souleymane Cissokho survives knockdown, outpoints Kieron Conway

Souleymane Cissokho survived a late knockdown to defeat Kieron Conway by a unanimous decision Saturday.

Souleymane Cissokho survived a late knockdown to defeat Kieron Conway by a split decision in a 10-round junior middleweight bout on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

Cissokho, an Olympic bronze medal winner from France, went down in Round 9 but otherwise seemed to control the fight.

The judges saw it differently. One judge had Conway winning 97-92 (seven rounds to three) but the other two scored it for Cissokho, 96-93 and 95-94.

Cissokho (13-0, 8) boxed effectively behind his long jab from the beginning, sticking, moving and seemingly landing more power shots than Conway (16-2-1, 3 KOs).

The British fighter pushed the action much of the fight but did more chasing than landing punches for most of the fight.

Conway had his moment only seconds into Round 9, when a double left uppercut forced Cissokho to drop to his knees. It appeared that his eye or eye socket was injured as a result of one of the punches.

Conway followed up by throwing a furry of punches in an attempt to stop Cisshokho but soon backed off, which allowed Cissokho to get back into his groove.

The Frenchman, who has been working with trainer Virgil Hunter, controlled Round 12 with his stick-and-move tactics.

Boxing Junkie scored it 98-91 for Cissokho, nine rounds to one.

[lawrence-related id=20096]

 

Souleymane Cissokho survives knockdown, outpoints Kieron Conway

Souleymane Cissokho survived a late knockdown to defeat Kieron Conway by a unanimous decision Saturday.

Souleymane Cissokho survived a late knockdown to defeat Kieron Conway by a split decision in a 10-round junior middleweight bout on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

Cissokho, an Olympic bronze medal winner from France, went down in Round 9 but otherwise seemed to control the fight.

The judges saw it differently. One judge had Conway winning 97-92 (seven rounds to three) but the other two scored it for Cissokho, 96-93 and 95-94.

Cissokho (13-0, 8) boxed effectively behind his long jab from the beginning, sticking, moving and seemingly landing more power shots than Conway (16-2-1, 3 KOs).

The British fighter pushed the action much of the fight but did more chasing than landing punches for most of the fight.

Conway had his moment only seconds into Round 9, when a double left uppercut forced Cissokho to drop to his knees. It appeared that his eye or eye socket was injured as a result of one of the punches.

Conway followed up by throwing a furry of punches in an attempt to stop Cisshokho but soon backed off, which allowed Cissokho to get back into his groove.

The Frenchman, who has been working with trainer Virgil Hunter, controlled Round 12 with his stick-and-move tactics.

Boxing Junkie scored it 98-91 for Cissokho, nine rounds to one.

[lawrence-related id=20096]

 

Frank Sanchez outpoints Nagy Aguilera in truncated bout

Frank Sanchez outpointed Nagy Aguilera in truncated bout on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday.

Frank Sanchez remained unbeaten in an unconventional way on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday.

The heavyweight contender from Cuba was in control of his bout against journeyman Nagy Aguilera when the latter went down in Round 6 from what he said was a punch behind his head and couldn’t continue, which sent the fight to the judges.

Sanchez won every round on all three cards, which reflected his dominating performance. Boxing Junkie also had it 60-54.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:42 of Round 6.

Sanchez (18-0, 14 KOs) controlled the fight from the beginning, although he didn’t throw a high volume of punches.

He hurt Aguilera (21-11, 14 KOs) with a straight right about 30 seconds into the fight and relied almost completely on that punch to win rounds. He landed it many more times but never hurt Aguilera badly enough to set up a stoppage.

That is until the final punch. Sanchez threw a wide right that skipped off Aguilera’s left shoulder and seemed to graze his head. Still, the Dominican native grabbed his head and fell to the canvas. He then got up and fell again.

Aguilera got to his feet once more, after which he began to complain that Sanchez hit him behind the head throughout the fight. Sanchez landed a right when Aguilera lost focus and made that complaint in Round 3.

Was Aguilera looking for a way out of the fight? That will be debated this evening and in the coming days. What’s not up for debate is that Sanchez dominated a fight against an overmatched opponent.

Frank Sanchez outpoints Nagy Aguilera in truncated bout

Frank Sanchez outpointed Nagy Aguilera in truncated bout on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday.

Frank Sanchez remained unbeaten in an unconventional way on the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card Saturday.

The heavyweight contender from Cuba was in control of his bout against journeyman Nagy Aguilera when the latter went down in Round 6 from what he said was a punch behind his head and couldn’t continue, which sent the fight to the judges.

Sanchez won every round on all three cards, which reflected his dominating performance. Boxing Junkie also had it 60-54.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:42 of Round 6.

Sanchez (18-0, 14 KOs) controlled the fight from the beginning, although he didn’t throw a high volume of punches.

He hurt Aguilera (21-11, 14 KOs) with a straight right about 30 seconds into the fight and relied almost completely on that punch to win rounds. He landed it many more times but never hurt Aguilera badly enough to set up a stoppage.

That is until the final punch. Sanchez threw a wide right that skipped off Aguilera’s left shoulder and seemed to graze his head. Still, the Dominican native grabbed his head and fell to the canvas. He then got up and fell again.

Aguilera got to his feet once more, after which he began to complain that Sanchez hit him behind the head throughout the fight. Sanchez landed a right when Aguilera lost focus and made that complaint in Round 3.

Was Aguilera looking for a way out of the fight? That will be debated this evening and in the coming days. What’s not up for debate is that Sanchez dominated a fight against an overmatched opponent.

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders expected to draw 70,000 in Texas

The Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders fight on Saturday is expected to draw 70,000 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Organizers are expecting a crowd of around 70,000 for the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders fight Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

That would break the reported U.S. record for an enclosed venue of 63,352 for the 1978 Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks rematch at the Superdome in New Orleans. The accepted U.S. record for all venues is 120,557 for the first Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney fight in 1926 at Sesquicentennial Stadium in Philadelphia.

Matchroom Boxing, which is promoting Saturday’s show, announced that sales had reached 65,000 by Thursday.

AT&T has a retractable roof but it will remain closed.

“It’s one of the biggest events I’ve ever been involved in, and this morning, we officially broke the record for the biggest indoor crowd in American boxing history,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said on Thursday. “We will have 70,000 people in the AT&T Stadium on Saturday night. I am absolutely buzzing for this. I think this could be the best atmosphere we’ve ever seen.

“The numbers for this fight are tracking great, and I think that this is just great for everyone. The biggest live event since the pandemic struck, and boxing has done that. It just shows that when you get it right, we have a monstrous sport on our hands.”

The largest crowd to see a boxing event worldwide is 132,274 for the 1993 Julio Cesar Chavez-Greg Haugen card at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

[lawrence-related id=20044,19987,19974,19971,19967,19945,19687,19685]

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders expected to draw 70,000 in Texas

The Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders fight on Saturday is expected to draw 70,000 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Organizers are expecting a crowd of around 70,000 for the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders fight Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

That would break the reported U.S. record for an enclosed venue of 63,352 for the 1978 Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks rematch at the Superdome in New Orleans. The accepted U.S. record for all venues is 120,557 for the first Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney fight in 1926 at Sesquicentennial Stadium in Philadelphia.

Matchroom Boxing, which is promoting Saturday’s show, announced that sales had reached 65,000 by Thursday.

AT&T has a retractable roof but it will remain closed.

“It’s one of the biggest events I’ve ever been involved in, and this morning, we officially broke the record for the biggest indoor crowd in American boxing history,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said on Thursday. “We will have 70,000 people in the AT&T Stadium on Saturday night. I am absolutely buzzing for this. I think this could be the best atmosphere we’ve ever seen.

“The numbers for this fight are tracking great, and I think that this is just great for everyone. The biggest live event since the pandemic struck, and boxing has done that. It just shows that when you get it right, we have a monstrous sport on our hands.”

The largest crowd to see a boxing event worldwide is 132,274 for the 1993 Julio Cesar Chavez-Greg Haugen card at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

[lawrence-related id=20044,19987,19974,19971,19967,19945,19687,19685]

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders: time, how to watch, background

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders: time, how to watch, background.

canelo alvarez and billy joe saunders are set to unify three of the four major 168-pound titles saturday at the dallas cowboys’ home stadium.

CANELO ALVAREZ (55-1-2, 37 KOs) VS.
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS (30-0, 14 KOs)

[mm-video type=video id=01f4sz8d39e8z1pj4njb playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f4sz8d39e8z1pj4njb/01f4sz8d39e8z1pj4njb-d7969efccfefb7f2b315286972321a21.jpg]

  • Date: Saturday, May 8
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
  • TV/Stream: DAZN and pay-per-view
  • Cost: DAZN is $99 annually or $19 per month; pay-per-view is $69.99 (includes access to DAZN through the summer)
  • Division: Super middleweight
  • At stake: Alvarez’s WBA and WBC, and Saunders WBO titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: Alvarez No. 2
  • Odds: Alvarez 5½-1 favorite as of Friday (BetMGM)
  • Also on the card: Elwin Soto vs. Katsunari Takayama, junior flyweights (for Soto’s WBO title); Kieron Conway vs. Souleymane Cissokho, junior middleweights; Frank Sanchez vs. Nagy Aguilera, heavyweights
  • Prediction: Alvarez KO 10
  • Background: Alvarez has said he wants to unify all four major 168-pound titles after winning two of them by easily outpointing Callum Smith this past December. A victory over the underdog Saunders would give him three pieces and set up a showdown for the undisputed championship against IBF titleholder Caleb Plant in September. The 30-year-old Mexican star last fought on Feb. 27, when he stopped overmatched mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in three rounds. Thus, he will have been out of the ring for only 2½ months. Alvarez is 13-0-1 since he lost a wide decision to Floyd Mayweather in 2013, a period in which he has climbed to top of some pound-for-pound lists. Alvarez is 6-0 against British fighters. Saunders, 31, is a polished boxer with limited power who has won major titles in two divisions. He won his super middleweight belt by easily outpointing Shefat Isufi in May 2019 and has successfully defended twice. He stopped Marcelo Coceres in 11 rounds to win what had been a close fight in November 2019 and nearly shut out veteran Martin Murray this past December. Saunders has some notable victories – Chris Eubank Jr., Andy Lee, Willie Monroe Jr., David Lemieux and Murray – but he has never tangled with anyone near Alvarez’s ability.

[lawrence-related id=19945,19777,19687,19685,19417,18298]

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders: time, how to watch, background

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders: time, how to watch, background.

canelo alvarez and billy joe saunders are set to unify three of the four major 168-pound titles saturday at the dallas cowboys’ home stadium.

CANELO ALVAREZ (55-1-2, 37 KOs) VS.
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS (30-0, 14 KOs)

[mm-video type=video id=01f4sz8d39e8z1pj4njb playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f4sz8d39e8z1pj4njb/01f4sz8d39e8z1pj4njb-d7969efccfefb7f2b315286972321a21.jpg]

  • Date: Saturday, May 8
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
  • TV/Stream: DAZN and pay-per-view
  • Cost: DAZN is $99 annually or $19 per month; pay-per-view is $69.99 (includes access to DAZN through the summer)
  • Division: Super middleweight
  • At stake: Alvarez’s WBA and WBC, and Saunders WBO titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: Alvarez No. 2
  • Odds: Alvarez 5½-1 favorite as of Friday (BetMGM)
  • Also on the card: Elwin Soto vs. Katsunari Takayama, junior flyweights (for Soto’s WBO title); Kieron Conway vs. Souleymane Cissokho, junior middleweights; Frank Sanchez vs. Nagy Aguilera, heavyweights
  • Prediction: Alvarez KO 10
  • Background: Alvarez has said he wants to unify all four major 168-pound titles after winning two of them by easily outpointing Callum Smith this past December. A victory over the underdog Saunders would give him three pieces and set up a showdown for the undisputed championship against IBF titleholder Caleb Plant in September. The 30-year-old Mexican star last fought on Feb. 27, when he stopped overmatched mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim in three rounds. Thus, he will have been out of the ring for only 2½ months. Alvarez is 13-0-1 since he lost a wide decision to Floyd Mayweather in 2013, a period in which he has climbed to top of some pound-for-pound lists. Alvarez is 6-0 against British fighters. Saunders, 31, is a polished boxer with limited power who has won major titles in two divisions. He won his super middleweight belt by easily outpointing Shefat Isufi in May 2019 and has successfully defended twice. He stopped Marcelo Coceres in 11 rounds to win what had been a close fight in November 2019 and nearly shut out veteran Martin Murray this past December. Saunders has some notable victories – Chris Eubank Jr., Andy Lee, Willie Monroe Jr., David Lemieux and Murray – but he has never tangled with anyone near Alvarez’s ability.

[lawrence-related id=19945,19777,19687,19685,19417,18298]