By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) ripped into middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and challenger Avandil Khurtsidze (33-2-2, 22 KOs) at a press conference to hype his fight on July 8 at the Georgian fighter at the Copper Box Arena in London, England. Saunders said that Golovkin didn’t look his best against his last opponent Danny Jacobs in their fight last March because he was drug tested 5 times, and that it was a “fair playing field” for the fight. Saunders said he could be wrong in his opinion on Golovkin. Saunders also questioned whether his opponent Khurtsidze has ever taken drugs before in the past.
“Golovkin got tested 5 times before the Danny Jacobs fight, and he looked like a human being,” said Saunders to IFL TV. “Before that, he was punching people on top of the head, knocking them out and not breaking his hand. He was taking shots that people were throwing at him. Sometimes he got hurt in that fight as well,” said Saunders in suggesting that Golovkin was hurt in the Jacobs fight. “You could see that he got hurt. He got tested five times,” said Saunders in saying that Golovkin was drug tested five times. “That’s my view. It might be right. It might be wrong. You’re telling me this little fellow I’m fighting has never taken a pumped up drug in his life. He’s big as that [Saunders then puts his hand in front of him to estimate Khurtsidze’s height] and full of muscles. You don’t get like that. If you take the weight off him, he’d be a lightweight. You take the muscles off him, he’s a lightweight,” said Saunders.
Saunders is doing a lot of speculating about Golovkin and Khurtsidze without knowing anything. Saunders would be better off keeping his mouth closed and taking the high road in focusing on losing some of that fat he’s put on. Saunders is going to need to be in great shape if he wants to beat Khurtsidze, because this is clearly the biggest puncher he’s ever faced. Saunders looked HORRIBLE in his last fight against Artur Akavov last December. A lot of boxing fans had Saunders losing that fight. I know I thought Akavov did more than enough to deserve the victory. Saunders complained that he had been forced to take a lot of weight off for the fight. Never the less, Saunders has put the weight back on for this fight against Khurtsidze, and he’s going to need to burn all that blubber off.
Saunders is pretty much just a 6-round fighter. He gasses out after 6 rounds. We saw that in his last two fights, including his fight against Chris Eubank Jr. The thing is, Khurtsidze doesn’t tire out. He keeps fighting hard round after round. The pressure that Khurtsidze will be putting on Saunders will cause out even quicker in this fight than he normally does. Saunders seems to think he’s going to be able to knockout Khurtsidze, but he lacks the punching power and the stamina to get the job done. Saunders will be gassed out long before Khurtsidze ever gets hurt.
Khurtsidze wore down his last opponent Tommy Langford with the pressure he was putting on him. Langford was able to hang tough for 4 rounds despite taking huge head shots. In the 5th, Langford’s chin finally betrayed him when he was nailed by a big left hook from Khurtsidze that knocked him out. That same shot from Khurtsidze would have knocked Saunders out. Khurtsidze could knock Saunders out 365 days a year if he landed that same punch under the same circumstances. Langford was exhausted from the pressure that Khurtsidze had put on him and from the hard bod shots that he’d been hitting him with.
“These Americans and trainers, they’re very sophisticated over there,” said Saunders at Monday’s press conference with Avtandil Khurtsidze. “I think he’s going to be chasing shadows all night. After three or four rounds, he’s going to be gassing out and I’m going to stomp on him and do what I’ve got to do. He’s 37-years-old. If I can’t beat him, then I’ll just give up and not think of fighting Golovkin and Canelo. He’s 3-years off of 40,” said Saunders about Khurtsidze. “He’s not the best of boxers. My 7-year-old son has better boxing skills than him. I think the occasion got to Tommy [Langford]. I think Tommy as looking at the big picture rather than on winning on the night. I think he froze a little bit when he got put in front of him. I think Tommy was up by 4 rounds. But I bet if there was a rematch, Tommy would beat him. What is he going to do when he’s 7 rounds down, blowing out his [expletive] and can’t hold his hands to his face. He can’t talk a word of English. He’s 37-years-old coming up against a 27-year-old,” said Saunders about Khurtsidze.
Khurtsidze is going to be tougher than Saunders thinks he is. This is going to be a really hard fight for Saunders. Even if Saunders does beat Khurtsidze, he’s going to be in for a grueling fight. It’s going to be tough as it is for the 5’11” Saunders to fight someone as short as the 5’4” Khurtsidze. It’s not easy for a fighter to suddenly punch down on a short fighter when they’re accustomed to facing taller guys. That’s the real problem.
Khurtsidze is used to fighting taller guys, and he’s very good at throwing body shots. You don’t have to be very tall to throw body punches, and Khurtsidze is going to work on Saunders’ soft midsection. I don’t think Saunders has ever fought a body puncher during his career, and it’s going to be a new experience for him. The combination of body punching and pressure from Khurtsidze is going to wear Saunders down a lot faster than we’ve seen from him in his recent fights. That’s my prediction. Instead of Saunders fading after 6 rounds, I think he’s going to gas out in 3 rounds and laid out by Khurtsidze.
“His sparring partners are better than you are,” said Khurtsidze’s trainer Andre Rozier to Saunders.
Rozier and Saunders were going at during parts of the press conference after Saunders started to really trash talk Khurtsidze.
“He’s going to get me ready for Golovkin,” said Saunders about Khurtsidze. “I know he’s a strong fighter and a good puncher.He hasn’t even got s jab. I’m WBO champion of the world. If I can’t beat someone who hasn’t got a jab, then I don’t belong in boxing. I wish I had boxed him on the Tommy Langford card, because it would be over now and I’ll be looking at the next step. Things happen for a reason. He’s a good puncher. He’s got a good record. They’re not just bringing him over. He can fight, but he’s no Mike Tyson. He’s a strong, little bull, full of muscles, and that’s about it. My goal is Golovkin or Canelo by the end of the year. That’s who I want, the big fight, to test myself to the max against one of the best. He’s a great fighter, but he’s not one of the best. I don’t need to be told off what will happen. They’re making a history fight, and the only tool I’ve got is the WBO,” said Saunders about Canelo and Golovkin. “I’m sure they’re going to want to do that fight. If I was in their position, I would want make that fight,” said Saunders.
I think Khurtsidze is going to foil Saunders’ dream of fighting Golovkin or Canelo in the end of the year. If Canelo beats Golovkin, he’s likely going to fight Miguel Cotto at the end of the year, so Saunders won’t get the fight against him anyway. That means Saunders will need to fight another one of his mandatory challengers, because the World Boxing Organization ordered him to fight back to back mandatory challengers due to him being out of the ring for an entire year. Saunders’ next mandatory will be either David Lemieux or Ryota Murata. If it’s Lemieux, I can’t see Saunders winning that fight. Murata would be a lot of problems as well for Saunders.
“I thought Golovkin comfortably, but Canelo’s got a few tricks,” said Saunders in suggesting that Canelo might beat Golovkin in their fight on September 16. “It all depends on if Golovkin got old. His last fight, let’s face it. He wasn’t his best we’ve seen 2 or 3 years ago,” said Saunders in commenting on Golovkin’s last fight against Danny Jacobs last March. “He slowed down a bit. But also that had something to do with this on my opinion on this. He had 5 drug testers [before Jacobs fight], and that’s my opinion. So I don’t think he boxed to the best to his best ability. So I don’t think he boxed to the best of his ability because it was a fair playing field,” said Saunders about Golovkin.
“He called me ‘tubby,’” said Saunders to IFL TV about Khurtsidze. “Look, he can’t understand a word of English. I don’t hate him. It gave me a bit of motivation. I like to hear that he’s coming to knock me out, because that makes me get up at 7:00 tomorrow and do my run and it makes me want to be in the gym. He’s 37-years-old. He hasn’t got a great boxing brain. If I can’t beat him, then I’m in the wrong game. I should be beating him comfortably. Whoever fights Golovkin or Canelo, they’re going to get millions and millions of pounds. He’s got the chance. This is his chance, so he’s coming to get it. I’m not going to let it go,” said Saunders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGfO_bmFNu0
