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Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders expected to draw 70,000 in Texas

Organizers are expecting a crowd of around 70,000 for the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders fight Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

That would break the reported U.S. record for an enclosed venue of 63,352 for the 1978 Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks rematch at the Superdome in New Orleans. The accepted U.S. record for all venues is 120,557 for the first Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney fight in 1926 at Sesquicentennial Stadium in Philadelphia.

Matchroom Boxing, which is promoting Saturday’s show, announced that sales had reached 65,000 by Thursday.

AT&T has a retractable roof but it will remain closed.

“It’s one of the biggest events I’ve ever been involved in, and this morning, we officially broke the record for the biggest indoor crowd in American boxing history,” Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said on Thursday. “We will have 70,000 people in the AT&T Stadium on Saturday night. I am absolutely buzzing for this. I think this could be the best atmosphere we’ve ever seen.

“The numbers for this fight are tracking great, and I think that this is just great for everyone. The biggest live event since the pandemic struck, and boxing has done that. It just shows that when you get it right, we have a monstrous sport on our hands.”

The largest crowd to see a boxing event worldwide is 132,274 for the 1993 Julio Cesar Chavez-Greg Haugen card at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

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