Comments Thread For: Hopkins Warns Saunders That He May Never Get Another Shot at Canelo

[MDPopescu]

... and just who Saul Alvarez is going to fight next?...

[Silver Spear]

While Hopkins himself stayed in shape year round, he can't expect every fighter to live that way. Training for a fight sucks and most people only want to do it if they know for a fact that a fight is happening. Canelo likes to give guys short notice to prepare, meanwhile, he knows his exact fight date and starts to prepare himself accordingly. The may fight with Saunders was announced very late and even then, Canelo threw a fit by saying he's the only one to announce his fights and he never signed to face Saunders. So right now, Canelo knows his fight date (which is likely Sept) so he's preparing but his opponent is still unknown. Is somebody supposed to be training their ass off for a fight that they aren't even sure is happening? Bottom line is guys aren't always going to go for Canelo's A side tactics and give him an advantage

Why can we not expect a professional fighter to stay in shape in-between fights? You said it yourself that Canelo fights on hard dates every year like clockwork. If Saunders really wanted the fight he could have stayed in decent shape in preparation for either of the 2 dates that Canelo fights on. In professional boxing you fight for the money, I am fully aware and fine with that mentality. For Saunders to pass based on money I find it interesting since this would be his highest payday and he will never get this type of money again. If he prefers to fight easier fights for less money but be able to fight longer in his career then maybe it is the smart thing for him to do. If he fights Canelo and Canelo smashes him who knows how his career will hold up after.

[Jab jab boom]

Why can we not expect a professional fighter to stay in shape in-between fights? You said it yourself that Canelo fights on hard dates every year like clockwork. If Saunders really wanted the fight he could have stayed in decent shape in preparation for either of the 2 dates that Canelo fights on. In professional boxing you fight for the money, I am fully aware and fine with that mentality. For Saunders to pass based on money I find it interesting since this would be his highest payday and he will never get this type of money again. If he prefers to fight easier fights for less money but be able to fight longer in his career then maybe it is the smart thing for him to do. If he fights Canelo and Canelo smashes him who knows how his career will hold up after.

sorry but I don't think a fighter should be expected to get himself into fighting shape (which is different from regular shape) just because there's an outside chance that Canelo may pick them. Saunders thought he had the Canelo fight in May, only for Canelo to come back and say he never signed the contract. As I said in my original post, the boxing world doesn't revolve around Canelo and not everyone is going to bend to his will, nor should they have to. Do the decent thing, pick your opponent with sufficient notice and pay them fairly.

[aboutfkntime]

sorry but I don't think a fighter should be expected to get himself into fighting shape (which is different from regular shape) just because there's an outside chance that Canelo may pick them. Saunders thought he had the Canelo fight in May, only for Canelo to come back and say he never signed the contract. As I said in my original post, the boxing world doesn't revolve around Canelo and not everyone is going to bend to his will, nor should they have to. Do the decent thing, pick your opponent with sufficient notice and pay them fairly.

surely Saunders intended to fight someone when boxing resumed?

every professional knows the importance of staying in shape between fights

this is what Saunders said in March

The show must go on at some point if its may or When ever god gives us the go ahead I’m ready . Stay blessed 👏🏻👍🙏@MTKMarbella @Canelo

it is a little silly to suggest that Canelo can easily prepare for a TBA... but not Saunders... like I said earlier, everyone else is ready to go... except for Saunders

I am a big BJS fan, been following his career since long before he turned pro... but these are the disappointing aspects of his career to me... it looks like his career will fizzle out, without reaching his potential

we will see I suppose, but good luck blaming anyone else if BJS misses that opportunity for good

[Silver Spear]

sorry but I don't think a fighter should be expected to get himself into fighting shape (which is different from regular shape) just because there's an outside chance that Canelo may pick them. Saunders thought he had the Canelo fight in May, only for Canelo to come back and say he never signed the contract. As I said in my original post, the boxing world doesn't revolve around Canelo and not everyone is going to bend to his will, nor should they have to. Do the decent thing, pick your opponent with sufficient notice and pay them fairly.

1. You will need to define what 'fighting' shape is and what 'regular' shape is.
2. Have you ever fought before? I trained and fought exhibition/amateur fights for years and I have never seen any amateur fighter take time off between fights and tournaments and not be in decent shape and by decent I mean within 10 pounds of his fighting weight.
3. For Saunders to be ready to fight in May and then suddenly be so out of shape as to not be able to fight by September knowing full well that September is a month that Canelo has fought on for years. That is just Saunders being lazy.
4. The boxing world revolves around he who can make you the most money. Floyd was that world until he retired. Tyson was that at one point. Saunders does not have to fight Canelo now but he will never get another shot especially with more and more fighters getting better and making a bigger name for themselves.
5. I agree that not everyone should bend the knee for Canelo. But in boxing you fight for the paycheck and right now Canelo gives you the biggest paycheck.

I like Saunders and I think if he is in shape and has the determination he can give Canelo a tough time. He has the skills and he does not gas out as bad as Canelo. I would have loved to see this fight and now it will just be a what if since Saunders decided to make excuses.

[Jab jab boom]

1. You will need to define what 'fighting' shape is and what 'regular' shape is.
2. Have you ever fought before? I trained and fought exhibition/amateur fights for years and I have never seen any amateur fighter take time off between fights and tournaments and not be in decent shape and by decent I mean within 10 pounds of his fighting weight.
3. For Saunders to be ready to fight in May and then suddenly be so out of shape as to not be able to fight by September knowing full well that September is a month that Canelo has fought on for years. That is just Saunders being lazy.
4. The boxing world revolves around he who can make you the most money. Floyd was that world until he retired. Tyson was that at one point. Saunders does not have to fight Canelo now but he will never get another shot especially with more and more fighters getting better and making a bigger name for themselves.
5. I agree that not everyone should bend the knee for Canelo. But in boxing you fight for the paycheck and right now Canelo gives you the biggest paycheck.

I like Saunders and I think if he is in shape and has the determination he can give Canelo a tough time. He has the skills and he does not gas out as bad as Canelo. I would have loved to see this fight and now it will just be a what if since Saunders decided to make excuses.

1. Fighting shape means you're doing heavy road work, not just light jogging, sparring, dropping weight, and preparing to go 12 rounds.
2. I have fought before, and an amateur who takes part in consistent tournaments for 3 round fights is in a different position ftom someone who fights twice a yr but for 12 rounds. Not to mention, amateurs fight much closer to their walk around weights than pros.
3.whos to say Saunders was reafy for may? The fight was announced in March, covid became an issue a week or 2 later & the fight was scrapped shortly after. Not to mention Canelo stated he never signed for the fight at all. So doubtful Saunders really got too close to fighting shape at any point.
4/5. Yes canelo is the money maker but at this point, he's not offering life changing money. Sure maybe more than they've made before, but most likely don't see a huge difference from a typical fight. If you're facing the face of the sport who will make around 30 mil and you're getting a few mil in comparison, I could understand feeling short changed.

[Silver Spear]

1. Fighting shape means you're doing heavy road work, not just light jogging, sparring, dropping weight, and preparing to go 12 rounds.
2. I have fought before, and an amateur who takes part in consistent tournaments for 3 round fights is in a different position ftom someone who fights twice a yr but for 12 rounds. Not to mention, amateurs fight much closer to their walk around weights than pros.
3.whos to say Saunders was reafy for may? The fight was announced in March, covid became an issue a week or 2 later & the fight was scrapped shortly after. Not to mention Canelo stated he never signed for the fight at all. So doubtful Saunders really got too close to fighting shape at any point.
4/5. Yes canelo is the money maker but at this point, he's not offering life changing money. Sure maybe more than they've made before, but most likely don't see a huge difference from a typical fight. If you're facing the face of the sport who will make around 30 mil and you're getting a few mil in comparison, I could understand feeling short changed.

Canelo is absolutely offering life changing money. Canelo is paying his opponents more than Floyd was and everyone was getting rich fighting Floyd. Look at all of Canelos past 10 fights and you will see each opponent made at least double what they would normally make, Even Ggg. The only person who maybe did not was Cotto because he was already a proven draw. Saunders made $750,000 against Coceres. He would have made at least $6 million against Canelo. BJS would have made in 1 fight what he made in his last 10 together.

What ever happened to the winner-take-all attitude from BJS?

[Jab jab boom]

Canelo is absolutely offering life changing money. Canelo is paying his opponents more than Floyd was and everyone was getting rich fighting Floyd. Look at all of Canelos past 10 fights and you will see each opponent made at least double what they would normally make, Even Ggg. The only person who maybe did not was Cotto because he was already a proven draw. Saunders made $750,000 against Coceres. He would have made at least $6 million against Canelo. BJS would have made in 1 fight what he made in his last 10 together.

What ever happened to the winner-take-all attitude from BJS?

I'm talking about Canelo not offering life changing money in the current climate. Saunders agreed to 8 mil for may, now they've come back to the table for Sept and offered millions less. I haven't seen anything thag indictaes how much less or 6 mil as you've stated. Either way, taking millions less than you just agreed to months ago and being given short notice means you're putting yourself in a bad position physically and losing out on millions financially. End of the day, while having no crowd may be a loss of about 8 million from the gate, dazn should also consider that a better known opponent would also likely generate more subscriptions than a lesser known one which could supplement some of that lost revenue from the gate.

[Silver Spear]

I'm talking about Canelo not offering life changing money in the current climate. Saunders agreed to 8 mil for may, now they've come back to the table for Sept and offered millions less. I haven't seen anything thag indictaes how much less or 6 mil as you've stated. Either way, taking millions less than you just agreed to months ago and being given short notice means you're putting yourself in a bad position physically and losing out on millions financially. End of the day, while having no crowd may be a loss of about 8 million from the gate, dazn should also consider that a better known opponent would also likely generate more subscriptions than a lesser known one which could supplement some of that lost revenue from the gate.

You are right, Saunders should just sit on his couch and get even fatter and waste even more of his prime years being inactive. If Saunders is not staying in shape during all this time (he will have had 7 months to get in shape) then he has no one to blame but himself. Fury made far less than Wilder in their first fight but ended up making way more in the rematch. Why can BJS not do the same? Do what Ggg did and fight for a bit less now and then fight for more in the rematch if the first fight was good enough to warrant one. Pro boxers fight for money and BJS has no leverage to be demanding a higher pay especially as you have pointed out that every fighter is making less money because of venue revenues etc.

[Jab jab boom]

You are right, Saunders should just sit on his couch and get even fatter and waste even more of his prime years being inactive. If Saunders is not staying in shape during all this time (he will have had 7 months to get in shape) then he has no one to blame but himself. Fury made far less than Wilder in their first fight but ended up making way more in the rematch. Why can BJS not do the same? Do what Ggg did and fight for a bit less now and then fight for more in the rematch if the first fight was good enough to warrant one. Pro boxers fight for money and BJS has no leverage to be demanding a higher pay especially as you have pointed out that every fighter is making less money because of venue revenues etc.

I don't disagree that maybe sanders should've stayed in better shape, but I also don't blame him for not doing so. He was getting himself prepped for a may fight with Canelo and while it was nobodies fault that covid happened, he found out afterwards that Canelo never signed the initial contract in the first place. He could've been getting himself prepped to fight only to find out that he never actually had the fight. Canelo plays games with his opponent selection process and I don't blame someone for not wanting to put themselves at a disadvantage for Canelo's benefit.