By Charles Brun: Billy Joe Saunders says he will retire from boxing unless a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr. can be agreed on. Saunders is making it tough on Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn with his asking price of $5 million for the Eubank Jr. fight.
Although Hearn says that’s not an unreasonable amount; it’s questionable whether he’ll agree to that for Billy Joe. Is there enough of a demand from the UK fans to see Saunders fight Eubank Jr. again to bring in enough money to cover the huge purses for the two fighters?
Would DAZN UK want to dump $10 million for purses alone to satisfy Saunders and Eubank’s demands? You got to believe if Saunders is asking for $5 million, Eubank Jr. will want at least $6 million or more.
Saunders to only return for Eubank Jr fight
“I know it is a fan’s fight, really. It’s not really a fight where I would look or need to take,” said Saunders to Talksport.
“The only fight I’d come back for is that fight if the money is what I wanted. If not, I wouldn’t bother.”
Saunders quit on his stool after eight rounds in his last fight against Canelo Alvarez on May 8th, complaining of an eye injury.
Many boxing fans have since labeled Saunders as a “quitter” due to him not even coming out for the ninth round to give it one last go.
Will DAZN want to dump a huge amount of money on the Saunders vs. Eubank Jr. 2 fight, given how Billy Joe bottled it in his last fight against Canelo? I’d say probably not.
Will Hearn / DAZN meet Saunder’s asking price?
DAZN will obviously be interested in showing the Saunders – Eubank Jr. 2 clash, but they’re not going to pay a King’s ransom to put it on between these washed-up fighters.
At best, Saunders rates $1 million and Eubank Jr. about the same for their fight, but it doesn’t sound like Billy Joe will bother to get off his couch for that kind of money.
The $7 million that Saunders made against Canelo has warped his sense of proportions, making him think he’s a big star when he’s clearly not. Let’s face it. The WBO 168-lb title is the reason Canelo was willing to pay Saunders the $7 million.
It wasn’t because he was popular, and the boxing world was demanding to see this mismatch. U.S fans didn’t want to see the Canelo vs. Saunders fight.
Saunders was considered a paper champion in the eyes of many American fans, and the reason for that is he never fought quality fighters during his career.
It’s not surprising that Saunders wants to retire if he can’t get the fight with Eubank Jr, considering that he’ll make far less if he has to start fighting contenders like John Ryder, Carlos Gongora, Edgar Berlanga, and Gabe Rosado.
Billy Joe pricing himself out
The money wouldn’t be anywhere near what Saunders made against Canelo, and the chances of him losing to those guys would be very high.
Saunders’ request of $5 million for the Eubank Jr. fight makes it unlikely the fight will take place because that’s a lot of money for DAZN to be paying for a match that would only interest a segment of the UK.
The former two-division world champion Saunders (30-1, 14 KOs) says he’s financially secure after his recent fight with Canelo Alvarez and his interest in facing Eubank Jr. (30-2, 22 KOs) is for his fans.
“I’m financially secure,” said Saunders. “So it’s a fight that would interest me if the money was right, and I would do it more for the fans than anything.”
In a competitive match, Saunders beat Eubank Jr. by a 12 round split decision in November 2014 that could have gone either way. After six rounds, Billy Joe gassed out completely and appeared to lose the last six rounds.
The fight clearly should have been scored a 12 round draw, if not a win for Eubank Jr, given how much better he performed than Saunders in the second half of the contest.