1-GolovkinLemieux_Hoganphotos2 By Scott Gilfoid: After previously saying that he wouldn’t be fighting the talented IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) for another 18 months, newly crowned WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) is now considering facing Golovkin in a unification fight.

Saunders’ management reported received a “firm” offer from Golovkin’s promoters at K2 Promotions for a fight between them, according to Sky Sports. Saunders, 26, is leaving it up to his management to make the decision whether to take the fight or not. Saunders recently said he would agree to fight Golovkin next if he got a payday of $5 million.

That is quite a bit of money, and it is hard to imagine Saunders getting even half of that amount in a fight against Golovkin. IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux received $2 million for his recent fight against Golovkin last October for their fight on HBO pay-per-view.

Lemieux is arguably a better-known fighter in the United States than Saunders because Lemieux lives in nearby Canada and he’s had some of his previous fights televised in the U.S.

“People [are] asking me about [Golovkin fight]. GGG it’s down to my management if I get the green light let’s GO!” Saunders said on his social media site. “One thing I am is a fighting man. I wouldn’t back down a fight from any man.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR3HfOkd9bY

Well, Saunders might not be officially backing down from a fight against the talented Golovkin, but when he says that he is leaving it up to his management to make the decision, it sure as heck looks like he is shifting the responsibility. When a fighter really wants a fight, they are assertive about it and speak in definite terms.

I am not seeing that with Saunders. His comments suggest that he is going to let his management be in the hot seat rather than him by saying whether he gets the fight or not. Saunders would then be able to tell the fans and the media that he really wanted the fight with Golovkin, but his management did not give him the “green light” in order to take the fight.

If Saunders was an incredible talent and good enough to hold onto his WBO 160lb title for a long, long time, then I would see it as a smart move on his part to wait another two years before facing Golovkin. But the problem is Saunders is more of a mediocre paper champion in my view, and I cannot see him keeping his WBO title for any length of time at all. He is too weak, too slow, and too limited in terms of stamina.

People asking me about. GGG it's down to my management @djk256 and@frankwarren_tv if I get the green light lets GO!🇬🇧👌💨

— billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) December 30, 2015

As we saw in his recent win over WBO champion Andy Lee last November, Saunders is just a light punching six-round fighter at best. The only reason Saunders won that fight was because he knocked Lee down twice in the first half of the fight, and then Lee fought like a timid lamb the rest of the way instead of going after Saunders the way normal fighters would.

I think Saunders would last maybe two rounds against Golovkin at best, but at least he’d get a good payday. If Saunders stood and tried to fight Golovkin in a toe-to-toe battle, I believe it would be a total Custer’s last stand type of massacre with Golovkin overwhelming Saunders and putting him out his misery quickly. If Saunders chose to run around the ring like Martin Murray did against Golovkin, the fight might last six rounds, not much more than that. Saunders would only be putting off the inevitable by running like a lamb from a wolf.

The only thing that could come from that is the boxing fans would get to see Saunders turn red-faced from the exhaustion of running for three minutes of every round until Golovkin stopped him. It would be much better for Saunder if he just stood his ground and got it over with immediately rather than turning red-faced from trying to sprint around the ring for the entire fight. If Saunders chooses to run from Golovkin, then I see him gassing after three rounds instead of his normal six. It would be bad to watch, I must say.