By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) says he prefers to wait 18 months before he considers facing IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin in a unification fight. Nevertheless, Saunders says he would face Golovkin right now in America if he gets 4 million pounds.
That is roughly $6 million in U.S. dollars. Saunders might as well be talking $20 million for the fight with Golovkin, because he has about as much chance of getting that much as he does $6 million. It’s just not going to happen.
Saunders would need to be popular like Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for him to get that kind of cash for a fight against Golovkin.
I hope for Saunders’ sake that he is not going to sit on his backside and wait for that kind of money dumped from the sky before he agrees to fight Golovkin, because I do not think it ever will. Golovkin-Saunders is probably not a sellable fight on HBO PPV in the U.S. right now. I do not see that changing any in the next 18 months unless Saunders beats the likes Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, David Lemieux, Jermall Charlo and Demetrius Andrade.
If Saunders can take many highly prized scalps in the next 18 months, then maybe a fight against Golovkin would make big bank for him. I still do not see him getting $6 million for a fight against Golovkin, but he would definitely be worth a lot more than he is now after edging Andy Lee (34-3-1, 24 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision last Saturday night. Let us face it; it was not an impressive performance from Saunders. It was boring to watch, and I do not think Saunders did enough to take Lee’s titles.
It’s unclear how much money would be available for Saunders from the UK money, but I think it would likely have to be the majority of the $6 million, because I can’t see Golovkin coming up with $6 million to pay Saunders from the HBO money. I believe Golovkin’s last opponent former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux received somewhere along the lines of $2 million for the Golovkin fight.
“Golovkin can [expletive] off,” Saunders said to IFL TV about a potential fight against Golovkin. “Golovkin is the best in the world. Let’s not kid ourselves because I’m world champion. Let’s not say I’m going to get in line and beat Golovkin. It doesn’t work like that. Golovkin is world class. They’re talking about him fighting big fights. I’m sure the Canelo fight is there. I’m 18 months away from that fight.”
“I’m still learning and just became world champion. Listen; put the money on the table. Golovkin, let him go and say ‘Let’s get it on, let’s fight. Have four million pounds. Let’s get it on. Let’s fight.’ No problems, unification. I’ll go to America and I’ll fight Golovkin. Every one’s got a chance. The more I’m up against it and the more I’m [expletive] myself, the better I fight. No one’s not unbeatable and untouchable. He’s a good fighter, very good, but I know in time I’ll take it,” Saunders said.
I like how Saunders adds in that blather about how no one unbeatable. That is a laugh. In boxing, there are some guys that are unbeatable when they’re fighting in their natural weight classes against guys from the same weight classes. I certainly do not see a limited feather duster type of fighter like Saunders beating Golovkin just because he is spouting psycho-babble about no one being unbeatable. I do not care how keyed up Saunders gets for a fight against Golovkin, I still do not see him winning. Saunders can get as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and I still do not see it helping him any against a talent like Golovkin.
If Saunders wants 4 million pounds to fight, then he is going to need to look in another direction for someone else besides Golovkin. The problem is I do not see anyone out there in boxing that would give Saunders a payday like that. Even if Saunders moved up to 168 to fight the likes of James DeGale or George Groves, I do not see him getting a payday of 4 million pounds.
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