By Miguel Rivera
A deal is reportedly close for World Boxing Organization middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders to make a title defense against Gabriel Rosado on September 17th.
A sources with knowledge of the details informed ESPN Deportes that a deal is virtually agreed upon, with the fight taking place on HBO Pay-Per-View undercard to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. Liam Smith, which takes place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Canelo (47-1-1, 33KOs) openly admits that he's potentially going to face Saunders (23-0, 12KOs), at 160-pounds, on a date in December. The PPV fights are viewed by insiders as a quick build to a December clash between Canelo and Saunders. Smith, the unbeaten WBO 154-pound champion, is Saunders' stablemate under promoter Frank Warren.
Canelo wants to build his path to the full middleweight limit of 160-pounds. There is a verbal deal in place to for a September 2017 showdown with WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) in September of 2017. Golovkin defends his belts on September 10th against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook at the O2 Arena in London.
Canelo is not looking past Smith, but said few days ago that he Saunders continues to win.
"Hopefully he won't lose until the fight happens, or else it wouldn't be interesting. That is the plan for December but let's see what happens. First things first, I'm focused on my fight with Liam Smith on September 17 and then we will see what happens in December," Canelo said to ESPN Deportes.