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Exclusive: Lobby altercation between Canelo and Team Saunders explained

“He had a picture of a small boxing ring on his phone and he was just going to ask him what he thought about the size of this ring. It was a bit of tongue and cheek."

Billy Joe Saunders puts his 30-0 unbeaten record on the line this weekend as he takes on Pound for Pound king Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
The pair will collide in front of 70,000 fans in Texas for the WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine titles at super middleweight.
Saunders has made two defences of his WBO crown while Canelo defeated another British fighter in Callum Smith last year to unify the division before a dominant knockout win over Avni Yildirim in February.

The fight, however, was put in jeopardy after Saunders threatened to pull out due to the ring they are fighting on - something he described as the size of a 'phonebox'.

Saunders' camp would then clash with Canelo in the hotel lobby that evening.
"What's happening with the ring, we've come a long way, grow some b****cks," a member of team Saunders shouted, to which Canelo replied in English: "You are a f***ing p***y."

Jamie Sheldon - Saunders' cutman for fight night - has exclusively revealed what happened during the heated exchange to Planet Sport.

"He [Canelo] just came over - obviously Billy has a couple of mates over - and they just made eye contact and a couple of words mumbled as you'd expect on a fight of this scale," Sheldon said.
"The original thing that set it all off, he [Asgar Tair] went over to speak to Canelo totally on a respect level, telling him he thought he was a great champion and he was having a bit of fun with him.
"He had a picture of a small boxing ring on his phone and he was just going to ask him what he thought about the size of this ring. It was a bit of tongue and cheek, it was just a bit of banter and a couple of his team took offence to that and kind of came back at him.
"That's when it all went off. Canelo walked off, he was fine. He was laughing at first and then when he did it a second time, he came back a bit more aggressive and I think the thing with Canelo is, he's just not used to that. I think that's why he's reacted, he's the ultimate professional.

"As the week has gone on, Wednesday, Tyson Fury came over and that's when I was expecting drama after drama but there wasn't, we all trained together. Eddie went to Canelo and spoke about the ring and got it sorted instantly," the cutman added.

Saunders relaxed ahead of Texas reception

An estimated 5,000 fans attended the weigh-in ahead of tomorrow night's fight as Canelo and Saunders both made the limit at 167.4-lb and 167.8-lb, respectively.
With a record 70,000 fans expected at the AT&T Stadium, The organisers are expecting a crowd of 70,000 inside the AT&T stadium for the unification showdown, which is live and exclusive to DAZN worldwide excluding Mexico.

It would break the 63,352 record for an enclosed venue between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks in their 1978 rematch at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Saunders is expected to receive a hostile welcome by fans, but according to Sheffield's Sheldon it won't bother him.

"At the end of the day they're backing their man. When you look across the other side at the view of the crowd - you go to a show at the Manchester Arena and it's a football crowd - it wasn't like that," Sheldon said when talking about Friday's weigh-in.

"There were old women in the crowd, like our grandparents for example, there were men, women, children, there were all age groups there.
"It was nice to see everyone enjoying the occasion. There were more English fans in the crowd too than what I expected as well.
"Being at the venue, I'm trying to picture it full and it's going to be deafening. It's going to be electric for a start.

"I'm looking forward to that moment when Billy appears in front of the crowd - that's the bit I'm excited for. I'm also looking forward to the other side of the ring for the first time they see their man walk out to the ring as well.

"The more drama the more he's [Saunders] thriving. When we came back from the hotel today he was so relaxed and he's taking it in his stride.

"You've probably heard this before but he's one of those kids where the bigger the occasion, the bigger the opponent you'll get the best version of him. I'm 100 percent certain that'll be the case Saturday night," Sheldon added.

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