Saunders wants 5 million to fight Daniel Jacobs

By Boxing News - 12/22/2017 - Comments

Image: Saunders wants 5 million to fight Daniel Jacobs

By Scott Gilfoid: Billy Joe Saunders says he’ll fight Daniel Jacobs if his management gives him 5 million pounds for the fight. “no problem,” Saunders says. He’ll take the fight with former IBF middleweight champion Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) as long as he’s given his asking price.

Saunders is basically asking for $6.7 million for the Jacobs fight. When you convert pounds to dollars, you end up with close to $7 million. That’s the kind of money that Saunders would potentially get for a fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin. There isn’t going to be that kind of money generated for a fight between Saunders and Jacobs. That’s a fight that would be televised on regular HBO Boxing in the U.S. It wouldn’t sell on PPV. It also wouldn’t sell if Golovkin were to fight Saunders on HBO PPV. Fans aren’t going to buy that fight. Canelo-Saunders would sell possibly 300,000 buys, which is very low for Canelo. He can get the same amount of buys fighting anyone.

“Get his management to ring me up and I’ll have 5 million pounds and I’ll go over and fight,” said Saunders to Fighthype in talking about a fight against Jacobs. ”Give me 5 million, no problem. I’ll sign the contract. We’ll get him over, and I’ll fight him. He don’t sell in America. His last fight had 2,000 or a thousand people,” said Saunders.

This is what I was afraid of. I saw this coming a mile away after Saunders’ ugly win over Lemieux last Saturday night. Saunders would start pricing himself out as soon as the top fighters started showing interest in him. Just imagine. If Saunders is asking for $6.7 million to fight Jacobs, just wait until you see what he wants to fight Canelo or Golovkin. He’s going to price himself out of those fights too. Those guys aren’t likely going to want to give Saunders a huge split of the revenue, because he’s not well-known in the U.S. Canelo can make more money fighting a contender like Jacobs, Jermall Charlo or Demerius Andrade than he can fighting Saunders.

At least the U.S boxing fans have heard about those fighters. Golovkin isn’t a PPV guy in the States, and he’s definitely not going to be able to fight Saunders on HBO PPV. That’s not going to happen, so I don’t see where Saunders is going to be able to get $6.7 million fighting Golovkin. It’s not happening unless the UK audiences are willing to pay to see Saunders and Golovkin in high numbers. I don’t know if they will. I think the UK boxing fans would be interested in paying to see Golovkin fight the winner of the World Boxing Super Series tournament if George Groves or Chris Eubank Jr. wins it. But think there’s going to be much interest in a Saunders-Golovkin fight. I think just the hardcore British boxing fans will be willing to pay to see that fight.

It’s safe to say that Saunders is pricing himself out of the Jacobs fight. It’s too bad. That would be a that would help Saunders get a fight with Canelo or Golovkin, as it would help make a name for him in the U.S. The casual boxing fans really don’t know who Saunders is in the U.S. The fans that did see Saunders’ fight with David Lemieux last Saturday night likely were not too impressed with what they saw. Saunders ran around the ring for 12 rounds, showboating and generally looking disinterested in trading power shots. That style of fighting isn’t popular in the States, as the boxing public likes to see action, which is why Canelo and Golovkin are so popular. If the fans preferred to see the fighting style that Saunders uses, boxers like Erislandy Lara would be a huge pay per view star in the U.S. The last time I checked, Lara is not a popular fighter in the States. If Saunders were to face Jacobs, then he could at least make himself known to enough American fans for them to want to see him fight Canelo or Golovkin, as long as he doesn’t run for 12 rounds like he did against Lemieux. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Saunders fancies the job against Jacobs, does it?

He’s with Eddie Hearn. When do English promoters get top American fighters?” said Saunders in continuing to make excuses for why he shouldn’t have to face Jacobs. ”It’s just not the case. We can talk about the fight, but realistically, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren never do business. They don’t work together. They may one day. Frank Warren is my promoter. He’s done a good job with me so far. I’ll leave it to him and my management at MTK,” said Saunders.

If Jacobs was someone that Saunders felt confident of beating, I think he would take that fight in a second. The reason why is because it would increase his status in the boxing world. Beating Lemieux didn’t register in the U.S, because the Canadian fighter is not from the States, and he’s not considered one of the elite guys in the 160 lb. division. Lemieux is a guy that is known for being beaten by Golovkin, Marcos Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine. The casual boxing fans don’t know who Lemieux is in the U.S, because his fights haven’t been televised often enough in the country for the fans to know who he is.

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