Billy Joe Saunders: Canelo Alvarez Has Never Faced ‘A Gypsy Man’

Billy Joe Saunders believes he’s a different beast that Canelo Alvarez has never faced before.

Saunders is set to meet Alvarez in a super-middleweight title unification clash in May provided the latter gets past Avni Yildirim unscathed on February 27.

A fight with Alvarez would certainly be the biggest of Saunders’ career as he will look to have better results than fellow Briton Callum Smith who was comfortably outpointed by the Mexican in December.

However, Saunders has never actually watched that fight in full as he felt Smith taking the fight on short notice was simply a money-grabbing opportunity for himself — not that he blames him.

That said, it won’t be the case with Saunders who is only focused on the win as he went on to state that Alvarez has never faced a Gypsy man before.

“To tell you the truth I didn’t watch the Canelo vs Smith fight, I didn’t watch it,” Saunders said (via Boxing Scene). “I’ve seen highlights. One thing Canelo Alvarez has never, ever, ever, ever done – he’s never fought a gypsy man, never. I’ve got something inside of me burning so strong that I’ll give my life, my soul, my everything to get the win.

“Some people go in there and they get blinded by the money, they get blinded by the lights, they get blinded by what could be. That don’t bother me, keep all that, have it. I don’t want the fame, I don’t wanna be seen, I don’t wanna be known by people on the street, don’t want any of that. I want the win, that’s all I want, that’s all I’m after.

“And I just felt that [Smith] taking the fight on five, six weeks’ notice was just a sign of, ‘I’m gonna go in there, get my money and I’ll see you all later.’ So I didn’t really tune in. I wanna see someone who’s going in there fully focused on doing a job – and that’s to win. Do I blame Smith for taking that chance? I don’t know, but he didn’t go in with a winning mentality.”

Saunders — who is undefeated with a 30-0 record — is coming off a unanimous decision win over Martin Murray in December to defend his WBO super-middleweight title.

Alvarez, meanwhile, currently holds the WBA and WBC super-middleweight straps.

Who do you have winning between Alvarez and Saunders?