Ben Davison realizes there are a lot of traits that have helped Canelo Alvarez become one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the world.
Billy Joe Saunders’ trainer feels one his best assets, the Mexican icon’s intelligence in the ring, isn’t discussed enough. That’ll be one of the greatest challenges for Saunders to overcome when he defends his WBO super middleweight championship against Alvarez on May 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Alvarez-Saunders hasn’t been officially announced, but an agreement is in place for Alvarez to challenge Saunders for his 168-pound title seven weeks from Saturday night.
“The key thing in that fight is, as strong as Canelo is – he’s known for his strength and power, if you’re looking from the outside,” Davison told BT Sport recently. “But the real key is his IQ. If you do something for too long or too often, he will make you pay for it because he has a fantastic boxing IQ. So, for Billy Joe, it’s all about being able to match or better that boxing IQ. And part of that is my job, and part of that is what Billy Joe has developed over the years. It’s just about bringing that out of him on the night, and I believe that if that [fight] happens, we’ll be able to do that.”
Davison, meanwhile, will have a decision to make regarding where he’ll work the night of May 2.
Tyson Fury’s former trainer also was hired recently to train Josh Taylor, who’ll make a mandatory defense of his IBF junior welterweight title against Thailand’s Apinun Khongsong that night at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Davison indicated in the aforementioned BT Sport interview that a contingency plan already is in place, but he hasn’t said whether he’ll man the corner of England’s Saunders on May 2 or work with Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs).
The Scottish southpaw’s fight against Khongsong (16-0, 13 KOs) obviously is considered easier for Taylor than Alvarez-Saunders and would be less lucrative for Davison.
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) has opened as a 6-1 favorite over Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs), according to most sports books online.
Saunders’ performance in his last fight is at least partially the cause for those wide odds. The 30-year-old Saunders trailed on one scorecard when he knocked down Argentina’s Marcelo Coceres (28-1-1, 15 KOs) three times and stopped him in the 11th round November 9 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.