Billy Joe Saunders wants Demetrius Andrade fight in February

By Boxing News - 12/10/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Billy Joe Saunders wants Demetrius Andrade to vacate his WBO middleweight title and come up to 168 to challenge him for his WBO title.

Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) wants a big fight for his next match-up, and if he can’t get Canelo Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin, he Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs).

Seeing how lackluster Saunders, 31, looked in beating 38-year-old Martin Murray last Friday night, the odds of him landing the Canelo or GGG fight next are slim.

Also, World Boxing Organization president Paco Valcarcel let Saunder’s promoter Eddie Hearn know last week that he needs to be advised if Billy Joe will be fighting Andrade or Canelo next.

Valcarcel is giving Hearn ten days to let him know. If Saunders doesn’t fight either Andrade or Canelo, the WBO will order him to make a mandatory defense against one of their chosen top contenders.

Image: Billy Joe Saunders wants Demetrius Andrade fight in February

Saunders obviously knows he has zero chance of getting a fight against Canelo because he’s not going to negotiate a fight with him until after his December 19th fight against Callum Smith.

By that time, it’ll be too late for Alvarez to negotiate because the WBO’s deadline for Saunders will already have passed.

Saunders targeting Andrade for February

“@bjsaunders_ pick up the phone. I’m ringing; it’s only 9 pm. I know you’re still up,” said Demetrius Andrade on Twitter.

Yes, mate, stop all the s*** talk. We can just get it on, so vacate this week. Make it official you’re stepping up, and February sounds good. Bring your b****,” said Saunders.

Image: Billy Joe Saunders wants Demetrius Andrade fight in February

Billy Joe is making a move to start the wheels rolling for a fight between him and Andrade.

It’s good that Saunders realizes that he’s got to do this because if he sits around waiting for Canelo to contact him, he’ll run out of time.

What will happen is the WBO will order Saunders to defend against his #1 contender Zach Parker, and that’s not a big fight.

“When you watched Billy Joe Saunders last two fights, we know that Billy Joe’s bark is much bigger than his bite,” said Todd Grisham to DAZN.

“He looked good but certainly not great in his last fight against Martin Murray. He dominated, but no one got too excited about it. Eddie Hearn was even having trouble trying to spin it forward.

YouTube video

“Saunders wasn’t too happy about his performance. The best thing about Billy Joe Saunders is his MIC skills, the way he can talk trash. Kind of like you, Sergio.

“You talked your way into a lot of fights. I don’t think Billy Joe Saunders can talk his way into the Canelo fight after those two performances. GGG, the one you want, BJ is going to talk all this trash.

“GGG’s English is really broken. he doesn’t talk any smack, and it’s going to be really one-sided. The only fight that makes sense for me for Billy Joe Saunders is Demetrius Andrade.

Billy Joe is receptive towards Andrade fight

“It seems like BJ is pretty receptive, and the great thing is Saunders says he’s not impressed with Andrade, and Andrade says he’s not impressed with Saunders,” said Grisham.

“What better way to put two guys that have no respect for each other that like to talk trash in with each other.

“Put this O’s on the line; someone has to lose,” said Grisham of Saunders and Demetrius.

“I agree with you about BJ’s bark being worse than his bite, but I appreciate the brains over the bark,” said Sergio Mora. “BJ Saunders is a sniper; I love the way he boxes.

YouTube video

“He frustrates his opponents. And he has enough power in his hands to get your respect. He has a high fight IQ, defense, the power jab—everything coming from a southpaw angle.

“The body shots, the confidence, and then the bark and all this. No, man. This guy is the real deal as far as the skills are concerned.

“If you match up those skills against a champion like Golovkin or a champion like Andrade or any fighter or any champion, he’s going to give anyone trouble. That’s how good he is,” said Mora.

“That’s your mark now to give somebody trouble?” said Mora. “BJ Saunders in his last two fights, even he will admit has been pretty boring to watch.

Image: Billy Joe Saunders wants Demetrius Andrade fight in February

“But only you of all people, a boring fighter yourself, can appreciate what he’s doing. Congratulations.

“He likes to talk smack. In fact, he’s already going after BJ online right now, talking smack,” said Grisham about Andrade.

If Saunders can beat Andrade, he would have the big name on his resume to interest Canelo and Golovkin to fight him. Saunders should have fought Andrade ages ago because his popularity would be a lot higher.