Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders is going ahead in the USA in early May - a fight set to unify three of boxing's super-middleweight titles.
News of the long-awaited clash was broken via The Athletic, which explained that the Mexican pound-for-pound king and the undefeated Brit had agreed terms for the super-fight at 168lb.
All that needs to happen first is Alvarez has to clear up his mandatory defence against challenger Avni Yildirim on 27 February in Miami (a fight Canelo is strongly favoured to win). Then it's all systems go for Alvarez vs Saunders on either 1 May or 8 May.
The 31-year-old Saunders was in the running to be Alvarez's opponent in December. Instead, the 30-year-old Canelo punished Saunders' countryman Callum Smith in a one-sided, 12-round decision.
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However Saunders - who boasts a 30-0 record (14 KOs) - has been vocal in calling out the biggest pay-per-view attraction in the sport for years. Now he gets his chance against the multi-weight world champion, who just seems to improve with every fight.
Canelo's sole, official defeat came against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013. However Alvarez has won world titles in four weight classes and now stands as both the biggest attraction - and arguably the best boxer - in the sport.
He's also developed a reputation as a destroyer of Brits, having beaten Matthew Hatton, Ryan Rhodes, Amir Khan, then Smith in December.
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Saunders is looking to buck that trend. The southpaw, a world champion at middleweight before moving up, has undoubted skill. However he's had his share of controversy outside the ropes and has had various run-ins with the British Boxing Board of Control over his behaviour.
Expect a fiery build-up and an intriguing match-up come early May.
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Topics: Boxing News, Boxing, Fight News, Canelo Alvarez
