WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders has his sights set on Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez after linking up with Eddie Hearn.
Saunders, unbeaten in his 28 professional contests, parted amicably with long-term promoter Frank Warren in early August and has joined Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stable.
The 29-year-old, champion at 168lb, is willing to drop back down to middleweight, where he previously held the WBO title from 2015 to 2018, in order to secure bouts with Golovkin and Alvarez.
“I can fluctuate between the two weights, 160lb and 168lb,” said Saunders.
“I know I’m the best at both. Bring them to me and I’ll show you how to beat them.
“With Golovkin, It’s one of those… if I can’t beat a 37-year-old man, and I’m 29 and in my prime, then I’m not as good as I thought I was. I’m very confident of beating Golovkin.
“I’ll fight Golovkin at whatever weight he wants, that’s a fight I would absolutely love, so I could show people around the world how easily I could out-box him.
“Canelo is a brilliant fighter, but I wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t believe I could win.
“I am going into these fights knowing and believing in what I can do. He’s the big name in the sport I’m there to take him. I’m on the right path.”
Hearn has a few other names up his sleeve, such as a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr – branded a “world-class bum” by Saunders – or fights with Danny Jacobs, Demetrius Andrade or WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith.
“I think Callum’s a great fighter,” added Saunders. “A good puncher, a good boxer, he has all the attributes to be a world champion.
“But I know that if you put me in the ring with someone the same level, or the level above, and I rise and rise and rise. That’s why I want these big fights.
“Callum would be favourite going into the fight. I’ve a lot of respect for Callum but I genuinely believe I’ve got the beating of him and any other super-middleweight.”
Saunders’ first fight under Matchroom will be announced next week and will take place towards the end of October or the beginning of November.
“Everyone in boxing knows how good Billy is and now he is going to get the chance to prove it against the elite,” said Hearn.
“When you look at the fighters we work with across our platforms, this was an obvious link up.
“Fighters need to be motivated with regular dates and solid deliverable plans – now Billy finally has that you will see him shine on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here