A Dispute Over Ring Size Is Putting the Canelo vs. Saunders Fight in Jeopardy
May 5 2021, Published 4:54 p.m. ET
Although their fight is supposedly just around the corner, Canelo and Saunders seem to be having a dispute that might put the entire event in jeopardy. Now, there are questions about whether their fight will be canceled outright.
Given the chatter, there is some warranted concern among fans who are just trying to figure out why one of the most anticipated match-ups of the year is facing so many difficulties. So, is Canelo's fight canceled? What happens next? Keep reading to find out.
Saunders wants a bigger ring for his fight against Canelo, and has been threatening to cancel the event.
The British champion fighter has a caveat that is causing some issues right before his fight against Canelo: He wants the ring that they'll be duking it out in to be bigger. Saunders is adamant that the venue provide at least a 22-foot ring, but so far, it hasn't budged from 16.
"There’s a little bit of a hiccup today that everyone’s trying to resolve," Saunders said to talkSPORT. "I’ve left that to my management team MTK who’s over here sorting it, it’s quite a big hiccup to be honest. The problem is I’ve come over here and they’re trying to chuck me in a phone box of a boxing ring. It [the stadium] is hundreds and hundreds of feet long and they wanna stick a 16/18ft ring in the middle of it.
Canelo, who is notorious for fighting in smaller rings, hasn't raised any concerns about the size of the ring provided by the venue, but it appears that Saunders is so adamant about getting the ring he wants that he's been threatening to cancel the event altogether.
"You can’t just fly me in here and show me the ring that we’re using and I’ve been training all of my camp in a 24’ ring," Saunders said. "It’s a unification fight, not a British title. It’s like someone training on the 200m running track and someone training on the 400m running track — there’s a big difference," Saunders added in his chat with the publication, clearly upset that his fight against Canelo would be a vast departure from what he's been training for.
Saunders didn't show up for pre-fight press, and is threatening to fly back to Britain.
Promotional pre-fight events have been scheduled for days, but Saunders has opted to not show up to any of them, a clear indicator of how angry he is at the dispute over the size of the ring. On top of everything, the boxer's father has claimed that they've already purchased plane tickets home and that the fight is off.
Many are attributing this last minute switch-up to the mind games that boxing is famously known for, but Saunders seems determined to get what he wants regardless. At this point, only time will tell if the two will actually meet in the ring or simply go their separate ways.
