Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders: Fight card, start time, viewing guide

The super middleweight unification bout between Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders is a massive event. Here’s how to watch all of the boxing action.

Boxing takes a big step towards returning to normal on Saturday, May 8, when pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez meets fellow super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders, in a super middleweight championship unification bout at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

In a recent press release from Matchroom Boxing, the boxing promotional company stated that they expect Alvarez vs. Saunders to “smash the indoor boxing attendance record for America.” The record is the U.S. was set by the 1978 rematch between Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks. Ali vs. Spinks 2 drew in 63,352 fans in attendance at the Superdome in New Orleans.

AT&T Stadium is the home of the Dallas Cowboys and a massive state-of-the-art facility. For boxing events, it could conceivably hold about 100,000 fans or more. They set the maximum capacity in the 70,000 range for Alvarez vs. Saunders.

According to Matchroom Boxing, they sold 65,000 presale tickets with a limited amount still for sale. They recommend trying Seatgeek.com if you want to grab a last-second seat. They estimate that there will be 70,000 fans by the time the main event goes off.

This is the most massive combat sports event during the pandemic era and a sign that things are starting to return to normalize. Alvarez (55-1-1, 37 KOs) is the reigning WBC and WBA super middleweight champion and the most popular active boxer in the world.

Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) is the division’s WBO champion and is undefeated throughout his 12-year professional career. He lacks the experience and high level of opposition of Alvarez, which is why he is a significant betting underdog. Still, Saunders is the best super middleweight opponent available to Alvarez, not named Caleb Plant.

Fight time and how to watch Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders:

The only way to watch the Alvarez vs. Saunders main event lineup is through the DAZN app. You can stream DAZN through your television, mobile devices, and other streaming devices. A one-month subscription to DAZN is $19.99. You can get a discounted one-year subsection for $99.99. Coverage of the main card begins at 8 p.m. ET

Many of the preliminary contests are available for free on DAZN’s YouTube channel. Coverage of the prelim bouts begins at 5:35 p.m. ET.

Here are all the boxing matchups for the night listed in ascending order.

Prelim bouts:

• Kelvin Davis 143.8lbs  vs. Jan Marsalek—4 rounds, super lightweights
• Christian Alan Gomez Duran vs. Xavier Wilson—8 rounds, welterweights
• Keyshawn Davis vs.  Jose Antonio Meza—6 rounds, lightweights
• Marc Castro vs. Irving Macias Castillo—6 rounds, super featherweights

Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders Main event bouts:

• Frank Sanchez vs. Nagy Aguilera—10 rounds, heavyweights
• Kieron Conway vs.  Souleymane Cissokho—10 rounds, WBA Intercontinental super welterweight title
• Elwin Soto vs.  Katsunari Takayama—12 rounds, WBO World light flyweight title
• Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders—12 rounds, WBA, WBC, WBO, Ring Magazine super middleweight championship unification