By Dan Ambrose: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) says he’s ready to fight IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) in Kazakhstan on June 10, because he thinks the soon to be 35-year-old Triple G has gotten old enough to be beaten now. Saunders says he told the boxing fans a little over a year ago that he wanted to wait 18 months to 2 years before facing Golovkin. That time has now gone by and Saunders is ready to fight Golovkin and beat him in his own country of Kazakhstan.
Saunders he wants the contracts to be signed very soon because he wants a full training camp to get ready for Golovkin. If the contract doesn’t get signed, Saunders says he’ll move on and fights someone else. Saunders was out of the ring for 12 months, and he was really rusty when he did come back last December against Artur Akavov. Saunders doesn’t want to be inactive like that again, and that’s why he wants Golovkin and his promoters to get the contract ready for him to sign.
“Golovkin is getting old, isn’t he? He’s almost 35,” said Saunders to IFL TV. “He’s shown to be an ordinary man…Just let him get to that certain age, 35-ish, and now he’s that age. His dream fight is me. I’m willing to deliver that, but it’s not going to be a very good dream for him, because I feel I’m going to be a nightmare in the end in his own country. I’ll travel to Kazakhstan. I’m happy with everything Frank Warren said to me. I’m happy going in there. If he really wants the fight, then let him send the contract over. I spoke to Tom Loeffler on Twitter, and he said the contracts were there last week. My bits done. I’m giving you my word. I want to fight him in 11 weeks’ time. I’m willing to fight him in 11 weeks in Kazakhstan. I want the Triple G spot,” said Saunders.
Saunders saw age rearing it’s ugly head with Golovkin in his fight last Saturday night against Daniel Jacobs. Saunders isn’t taking credit away from Jacobs though, because he thought he fought well against Triple G. Saunders believes he can give Golovkin a lot of problems with his own boxing skills once he gets him inside the ring. Saunders thinks Golovkin believes he can beat him and take his WBO title from him, but he’s not going to allow that to happen. Saunders, 27, plans on using his skills to give Golovkin his first defeat of his career. He knows that a big win over Golovkin would be huge for his boxing career. It would take it to the next level. A loss wouldn’t be a big deal for him. He would take the loss and keep moving forward with his career, but a victory would open up a lot of doors for him. Golovkin is still pretty much the same fighter that stopped guys like Matthew Macklin and Daniel Geale in the past. His less than impressive performance against Jacobs was largely his own doing by fighting passively. If Golovkin could have made some adjustments to fight with more aggression, he probably would have gotten Jacobs out of there.
“I put in my head I want him to get to 35, around that age, 35,” said Saunders about Golovkin. “I still say he’s the man to beat at the weight. If he goes by my last performance and that makes him happy, he’s in for a big shock. I’m telling you who Canelo is. He’s a ginger [expletive]. I don’t know why Golovkin is worried about him for, because he had a belt and gave it to him. He don’t want to fight Golovkin. He don’t want to fight nobody. He wants to bring people down. He’s bringing Chavez down to a stupid, stupid weight. He wouldn’t go to 160 to fight Golovkin. He won’t have me, yet he’ll have Chavez come down. He’s no one to worry about because he’s trying to protect something – his legacy. The only legacy he’s got is getting beaten by Mayweather; nothing else. In my opinion, he’ll never go down as a great,” said Saunders.
Golovkin is still a very good fighter despite his advancing age. He’s still a big puncher despite his inability to knockout Jacobs. In fairness to Golovkin, he probably would have knocked out Jacobs if he went after him the way he’d done against opponents like Willie Monroe Jr. and Dominick Wade. Golovkin fought Jacobs in a more defensive manner by electing not to go after him aggressively. Golovkin boxed for most of the fight with Jacobs, and didn’t pressure him nearly enough to get the knockout. In the 4th round, Golovkin backed off after knocking Jacobs down. That was a perfect chance for Golovkin to try and finish him off, but he let him off the hook, as if the knockout wasn’t important.
“Let’s see if I can beat him,” said Saunders about Golovkin. “I want to see if I’m good enough. Let’s see if I can go to his backyard and beat him. Let’s see who wins. I’m in training now. If they think they can spring 5 or 6 weeks on me in a unification, it’s not going to happen. A lot of people are hoping the fight will happen to see me get knocked out. I know that. Let’s see if I’m good enough. Let’s see if I can beat him. I’m willing to give him his dream fight. I’m willing to go to Kazakhstan. If [the contracts aren’t ready] by the end of this week, I want a different route plan to get another fight. Business is business. If they want it on that date, then let’s get it sorted now. I didn’t take the fight before because the offer was silly. Now things are different. The offer is sensible. Everything has changed. Now I’m giving everything his way. I’m going to his backyard. I know I’m up against it, so let’s get it signed and get it done. If I win, I’m at the top of the world. If I don’t, this is boxing. I got beat by the better man or the older man, shall I say. I’m not going to be waiting around for another month. I’ll move straight on, because I can’t afford to have another year like I did last year. At the end of the year, I boxed terrible. Deep down, I know that was not me. I’m not having a warm up fight before Golovkin. Let’s get it on,” said Saunders.
It sounds like Saunders isn’t going to let the negotiations drag on and on like they were with the Golovkin-Jacobs negotiation. That fight took a long time to put together. Golovkin had no choice but to stick it out in the negotiations because the fight was ordered by the World Boxing Association. If Jacobs wants to fight Golovkin a second time, he’s likely going to need to take what he can get, because Golovkin won’t lose his WBA title if he walks away from the negotiations. Jacobs lost his bargaining tool with his defeat to Triple G. Saunders sounds like wants the Golovkin fight, and he’s not going to let months pass by with the negotiations.
“You keep going on, ‘Give me my belt.’ You have a chance to get your belt,” said Saunders about Golovkin. “‘All I want is my belt. Give me what’s mine and my belt.’ I’m going to give you a chance to get your belt in Kazakhstan. I’m willing to go there and have a fight with you. He wants a chance. I’m willing to give him that chance. If it doesn’t happen, it could happen 3 or 4 fights down the road, because there’s a couple of fights I want. I’m not going to sit around and wait for him. I’m ready to do it on that date. I’m 27. I’m not going to get stronger. I want a fair chance, no robberies. I’ll take him out of this game. I’ve never spoke to him, and I don’t want to speak to him. I just want to fight him. He’s not arrogant, but he’s a little bit of a macho man. He thinks he’s the man. I know what he thinks about me. He thinks he’s going to slap me over and take my belt. I know this. That’s what he thinks,” said Saunders.
Golovkin wants Saunders’ WBO title. That’s the last of the middleweight titles not in his possession. Golovkin is not going to let this possibility slip away from him, because if Saunders loses his WBO title to someone, it might become very hard for Triple G to get a fight. A nightmare scenario would be for Canelo Alvarez to win the WBO title, and then on it without facing Golovkin for many years. Canelo could continue to pick out beatable guys like he’s been doing the last 3 years, and wait until Golovkin is old before facing him. That’s why it’s important for Golovkin to make the fight with Saunders happen now before he loses to someone. Saunders barely won his last fight against little known fringe contender Akavov. You can only imagine what Saunders will go through when he eventually faces his #1 WBO mandatory challenger Avtandil Khurtsidze.