Big time boxing is back in the spotlight on Saturday night in Texas. Unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez returns in the main event as he continues to pursuit of undisputed status when he takes on WBO strapholder Billy Joe Saunders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (8 p.m. on DAZN, sign up now).
And while some fans may consider this a fairly close fight on paper, the oddsmakers do not. Alvarez has been installed as a massive favorite over Saunders at -800 at William Hill Sportsbook. Saunders comes in as a +550 underdog -- and interestingly enough it may be the closest odds of any fight on the main card available.
While it may be a tough sell to the casual fan to put down a chunk of change on Alvarez to win (or Saunders for that matter), there's still values to be found on the main event. Looking a little deeper at the prop bets, results and round options and fans will find some more appealing choices when it comes to this fight. With that in mind, we're here to offer you our two favorite prop picks for Alvarez vs. Saunders with the latest odds coming from William Hill Sportsbook.
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Best results pick
Canelo Alvarez via decision +150
Alvarez via knockout is currently sitting at +100, viewed as the most likely outcome to the fight. Saunders is a sizable underdog for a reason, but his skills should not be overlooked. At his best, Saunders is someone who boxes well and uses movement to his advantage -- a big reason for the whole kerfuffle over the ring size on fight week. He also is entirely capable of making a fight kind of ugly when needed. Saunders is a capable fighter, though his skills when fighting at his "peak level" have been exaggerated by many. Saunders has also simply never fought near the level of Alvarez. All that said, while Canelo has power, he's facing a reasonably slick southpaw, which has slightly troubled Alvarez in the past -- though not to the point of suffering a defeat in those fights. Saunders is more than capable of dragging this fight out for the full 12 rounds, even if he's far from likely to win enough of those rounds to make the fight truly competitive.
Best round prop
Canelo Alvarez rounds 7-9 +350
While Saunders is a slick, undefeated fighter, he has also been buzzed a bit in past fights and has wilted a bit down the stretch in others. To be fair, he has also had moments where he has stepped on the gas hard when needed late in fights, but against a guy like Alvarez, it's more likely the wilting version emerges. This is less because of issues with Saunders as a fighter than with Canelo's brilliant body work. Body work shuts down movement and Alvarez loves to do that work. While an Alvarez bomb could finish the fight at any moment, it feels more likely that a stoppage would come after early rounds where Saunders tries to use movement while Alvarez breaks him down. If the fight gets to the championship rounds, Saunders can probably hang on to the final decision, but a stoppage in rounds seven to nine, with Saunders' damaged to the body and increasingly trapped against the ropes, feels like a live line.
