Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua: Billy Joe Saunders bets Eddie Hearn £50,000 on winner

Joe HewlettJoe Hewlett25 March 2020
Hearn-Saunders

Hearn-Saunders

While Billy Joe Saunders awaits nervously to find out whether his fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will go ahead this year, he has found time to put on a £50,000 bet.

Saunders, a two-division champion and current WBO super-middleweight titlist, was one of many guests to feature on Eddie Hearn’s Instagram live on Monday.

‘Superb’ is promoted by Hearn but is good friends with WBC heavyweight champion and fellow Gypsy Tyson Fury, a rival to Hearn’s biggest asset Anthony Joshua. 

The Matchroom Boxing promoter was quick to remind Saunders about their colossal bet to his 890k followers on Instagram. 
He said: “Obviously the big heavyweight fight that could happen later this year when I take £50,000 off you, when Anthony Joshua beats Tyson Fury. We still on for that bet, right?”
“Yeah, I don't know if you'd want to up it a bit now? No one's touching Tyson at any weight at the minute,” Saunders replied. 
The southpaw revealed he would up the stake as long as his bout with Canelo takes place this year.
'Well I'm up for upping that bet when it's on. When we make that fight, me and you will discuss and increase in numbers,” Saunders said.
“To be fair, if you get this Canelo Alvarez fight and beat him you're going to want to probably put down a couple of million on it,” Hearn added. 

DAZN in limbo over Canelo-Saunders & Canelo-GGG 3

As Boxing365 revealed last week, DAZN bosses are currently locked in talks about pushing a trilogy fight with Gennadiy Golvokin above Saunders.

Canelo-Saunders was expected to land on May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, alongside their launch in 200 countries and territories worldwide. 
The UK was one of the counties DAZN intended to launch in, with £4.99 expected to be the monthly cost. 

However, the coronavirus pandemic has seen all boxing events delayed, forcing DAZN to pull the plug on their Cinco de Mayo date - boxing’s equivalent to the NFL's Super Bowl. 

DAZN bosses are now debating to stage Canelo-GGG 3 in order to get subscribers back on the platform. The date boxing returns will depend on how the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic so DAZN are in no rush to confirm anything despite considering the change of opponent for Canelo.

Hearn, who also promotes GGG, has reassured British fans that Saunders will get his chance ahead of Golovkin.

Talking to Sky Sports’ Adam Smith, the promoter said: “It leaves Billy Joe at the moment with a deal in place to fight Canelo but everything now depends on when the sport begins again because that fight was supposed to take place on Cinco de Mayo, now we know that’s definitely not happening. Will boxing return [in] June or July?
“If it does then there’s a good chance Billy Joe Saunders will fight Canelo Alvarez during that period and the date of the Golovkin fight will be pushed back. I think that with the whole disruption that you know the whole Cinco de Mayo and September 13 weekend will have to take a back seat. Right now Billy Joe Saunders is actually in Las Vegas training.
“We were supposed to have a press conference on Monday to announce the Canelo Alvarez fight. So again, right now he’s out there training with Ben Davison and Josh Taylor who’s just had his fight postponed from May 2 as well - no one knows what they’re doing. That’s the moment they’ve got to stay focused, you’ve got to stay disciplined. I believe Billy Joe Saunders will fight Canelo Alvarez as long as the boxing schedule returns in the summer,” he added.