DALLAS – More than 20,000 tickets were sold in the first two-day “presale” for the boxing function led by Mexican Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 at AT&T Stadium, according to the organizers.
The company promoting the event, Matchroom Boxing, and the Dallas Cowboys, owners of the stadium, have noted that this Tuesday, a record sale was set for the evening in which the two Superweight titles will be at stake. Alvarez, the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Association Council (WBA), and Saunders, the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Last week, when the fight was announced, the Cowboys noted that they were expecting around 60,000 fans, a figure that would exceed the four performances they have had at their stadium, two starring Manny Pacquiao against Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, one with “Canelo” in front of Liam Smith and the fight between Errol Spence Jr. and Mikey Garcia.
“Today (Tuesday) we saw record numbers for what promises to be a big celebration of the May Fifth weekend,” Matchroom Boxing president Eddie Hearn said in a statement. “The ‘Canelo’ fights have become the hallmark of the boxing calendar. I am honored to be the promoter of this captivating fight at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.”
Canelo (55-1-2, 37 KOs), 30, noted that his goal is to become the undisputed champion of the Media division and that for that, he would fight five times between last December and December 2021.
Tapatío goes for his third after defeating Callum Smith to win the CMB and OMB titles, after last February he made a mandatory successful defense against Avni Yildimir, in the function announced the fight against Saunders, which it has been expected at least for a couple of years.
“With one more day of pre-sale before the tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, I am confident we will have a full house in the ‘Lonely Star State’ for one of the biggest fights of 2021,” Hearn added.
The British Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs), 31 years old, has been the OMB Super Middleweight champion since he defeated the German Shefat Isufi in May 2019 and was previously the Middle Monarch of the same body since May 2015.
“I’ll gladly fight Texas again at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium,” Canelo posted on his Twitter account. “See you this May 8.”