Saunders faces the ultimate test

It Is too late now to warn Billy Joe saunders to be careful what he wishes for. the 31-year-old will get what he says he’s always wanted when he journeys to America for a fight with the No 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Mexican legend Canelo Alvarez stamped Billy Joe’s Us travel visa when he crushed a hopelessly outclassed challenger, Avni Yildirim, in Miami on saturday night. the turk — who had talked an aggressive fight — hardly landed a punch before he was decked in the third and promptly quit on his stool at the end of that round. Billy Joe promises to make more of a go of it on May 8. ‘Great as he is, I have the skill-set, the know-how, the footwork and the mind-set to beat him,’ he claims. Well, his clever defence and elusive movement certainly should make for a longer and more intriguing evening. But what saunders has not yet demonstrated, with less than half the 30 wins in his unbeaten career coming by way of knockout, is the one-punch stoppage power to upset Canelo. Nor is Alvarez likely to be unsettled by Billy Joe’s usual trash talk. Although Canelo (above) is already building up saunders the way he did Yildirim — ‘he will be an awkward opponent’ — he adds this rider: ‘saunders will not get into my head. I’m a very mature fighter now. ‘I know how to control myself, get into the ring and win.’ this squat, body battering Mike tyson of the lower divisions is hellbent on becoming Latin America’s first undisputed world supermiddleweight champion. ‘My mission is to make even more history,’ he says. the next step for Canelo, then, is adding Billy Joe’s WBO title to the WBA, WBC and Ring magazine belts he already holds on Cinco de Mayo weekend.