Chris Eubank Jr willing to bet £10k that Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will KO Billy Joe Saunders and insists he knows how to beat Mexican pound-for-pound superstar

Chris Eubank Jr is confident Canelo will knock out Billy Joe Saunders in their super-middleweight unification bout – and will put his money where his mouth is.

The 31-year-old Brit will challenge the Mexican pound-for pound superstar for supremacy in the 168lbs division on May 8 at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.

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Saunders has never lost as a professional, yet is a huge underdog against the four-weight world champion.

Although the slick southpaw could well pose problems for Canelo, it is widely expected Saunders will come unstuck as the fight progresses in the same way the likes of compatriots Amir Khan, Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith have before.

Eubank Jr is one of the more illustrious wins on Saunders’ CV having retained the British middleweight title in a barnstorming affair back in 2014 which went the distance and propelled both men onto bigger things.

The former IBO middleweight champion returns to the ring himself on May 1 against Marcus Morrison in the hope of enticing Gennady Golovkin into a scrap down at middleweight.

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Yet the Brighton-born native does not give Saunders much of a chance against Canelo the week after his return, insisting a knockout is on the cards.

“Different levels,” he told talkSPORT. “I don’t really feel like Saunders has improved since he last fought me.

“I think he is the same guy. I am levels and levels above what I was when I first got into the ring with Saunders.

“I feel like he is the same guy; that guy can’t beat someone like Canelo.

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“Somebody who is going to be successful against Canelo, you have to have a very different mind-set, a very different approach to the average boxer.

“I don’t think Saunders has what it takes. I have what it takes, I know the way to beat Canelo.

“I’m sure I will get my shot within the next couple of years. But it is a very bad fight for Saunders and, if it happens, he is going to get knocked out.”

Having told talkSPORT he plans to emulate Floyd Mayweather and outbox the Mexican on the night, Saunders is supremely confident he can pull off what some consider an impossible task.

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Yet Eubank Jr is also no stranger to the outlandish and is even willing to place a large wager on the way the fight will end.

“Slim to none, Saunders is going to get hurt,” he added. “I’m going to be putting a £10,000 bet on Canelo to knock Saunders out.

That’s what I think is going to happen; I think Saunders is going to get knocked out.”