BILLY JOE SAUNDERS is back in the frame for a sensational world title fight against four-weight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The Mexican superstar is plotting his next move after vacating the WBO light-heavyweight belt he won against Sergey Kovalev in November.
Unified middleweight champ Alvarez traditionally boxes on Cinco de Mayo weekend in May, a celebration of Mexican independence day.
But negotiations between the 29-year-old and Japanese superstar Ryota Murata for a fight in Las Vegas have seemingly reached an end, according to ESPN.
That has opened the door for bouts against WBO titleholder Saunders, and WBA Super champion Callum Smith, from Liverpool.
Both Englishman are promoted by Eddie Hearn, who is partnered with Canelo’s broadcasters DAZN, making either title fight easy to make.
But ex-middleweight champion Saunders remains the front-runner for the fight, as Canelo told Ring Magazine: “A fight between me and Billy Joe Saunders is a great fight, he’s a great fighter.
“He’s a difficult southpaw and a champion, it’s a good fight.
“The list of opponents is going to keep growing. There’s no rush in that. After I beat one there’s five new opponents that pop up.”
Saunders moved up to super-middleweight last year, winning the vacant WBO title after dropping the same belt at middleweight.
Canelo still holds unified titles at middleweight but was stripped of his IBF strap for failing to fight mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Gennady Golovkin went on to beat the Ukrainian for the vacant belt, with the Kazakh eyeing a trilogy bout against his rival Alvarez.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
