Billy Joe Saunders

Canelo will need to fight dangerous opponent in early 2017 says Sanchez

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By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez could be facing some very dangerous fights for him now that he’s moving up to middleweight, says Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez. With Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy wanting his fights in early 2017 to be televised on HBO pay-per-view, it means that he’s going to need to fight good middleweights like David Lemieux, Billy Joe Saunders or Curtis Stevens, says Sanchez. He feels those will be dangerous fights for Canelo that he could potentially lose.

Sanchez isn’t sure if those fights would result in Canelo being in a war, but he does think those will be matches where he’ll definitely be in a fight. Golovkin has already beaten Lemieux and Stevens by a knockout. Those were easy fights for him, but they may not be easy matches for Canelo. He doesn’t have the same boxing skills that Golovkin possesses.

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WBO orders Saunders to fight two mandatory challengers back to back

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By Scott Gilfoid: The World Boxing Organization has ordered WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) to fight back to back mandatory defenses of his WBO 160lb title due to his inactivity since winning their belt in 2015, according to Fight News. However, one of Saunders’ mandatory defenses might wind up being Saul Canelo Alvarez if the WBO catapults him above the current #1 Avtandil Khurtsidze.

Some in the boxing world might see that as being unfair to Khurtsidze, because he’s been Saunders’ No.1 contender for some time, and he STILL hasn’t been given a title shot. For Canelo to jump ahead of Khurtsidze to become the NEW mandatory challenger might look strange.

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Lemieux vs. Canelo possible for early 2017

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By Dan Ambrose: If former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux gets past his fight against little known Cristian Fabian Rios this Saturday night on October 22, he could be facing superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez in the first quarter of 2017, according to Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez. He has two scenarios for the 27-year-old Lemieux (35-3, 32 KOs), one of the scenarios is Lemieux fighting WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) for his WBO belt.

Gomez also likes the idea of matching Lemieux against Golden Boy’s flagship fighter Canelo. The odds of Lemieux fighting Saunders for his WBO title are extremely low. Saunders wants to fight Canelo or Golovkin. He’s probably not going to be agreeable at all in a fight against a dangerous puncher like Lemieux, even though he might have enough boxing skills to beat him.

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Billy Joe Saunders injured again!

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By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight title holder Billy Joe Saunders has suffered an injury training for his voluntary title defense against fringe contender Artur Akavov. As such, Saunders’ defense, which was scheduled for October 22, has been postponed until November 26 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

It’s unclear what will happen if Saunders suffers yet another injury while preparing for the new November 26 date. Will the WBO strip Saunders or allow him to keep postponing fight dates? You would hope that Saunders can eventually make it into the ring to make his maiden defense of his WBO title, because he’s been inactive for the entire year thus far.

The contenders in the WBO’s top 15 at middleweight haven’t had a chance to challenge for Saunder’s title. If he keeps getting injured like this over and over again, it’s going to be a real negative for the contenders and the boxing fans. Having the WBO title defended once a year is probably not a good thing for the WBO as well. Hopefully, Saunder’s injury problems don’t become a common occurrence for him as the WBO’s champion.

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Saunders suffers injury, fight with Akavov postponed

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Queensberry Promotions received news today that WBO World Middleweight Champion, Billy Joe Saunders had suffered a muscle injury and would be unable to defend against Artur Akavov on 22nd October at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. Unfortunately, on the same day British Super-Welterweight Champion, Liam Williams also suffered an injury in sparring that prevents him from defending his British title against Ahmet Patterson on the same bill.

Consequently, postponement was the only option to maintain the strength of the card, and as such the event will now take place on Saturday 26th November at the same venue.

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Saunders: I’m going to whip Canelo’s backside

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By Scott Gilfoid: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) says he’s going to come over to the United States and whip Mexican fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s backside in the near future after he gets done with his title defense against challenger Artur Akavov (16-1, 7 KOs) on October 22 at the Motorpoint Arena, in Cardiff, Wales.

Saunders sees Canelo as flawed and vulnerable, and he wants to hand him another loss on his record. Saunders also wants to fight unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin as soon as possible too. Saunders’ promoter Frank Warren says he’d like to have him fight Canelo first and then Golovkin under ideal circumstances.

Saunders would n/eed to beat one of them to have a chance to get the other. It’s not going to work if Saunders gets whipped by Canelo, and then starts yapping about wanting to fight Golovkin. I mean, Saunders can yap away all he wants, but I think he’s going to get ignored. Once Saunders no longer holds the World Boxing Organization 160lb title, he’ll be pretty much a nonentity for Golovkin and Canelo.

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Saunders: I’d beat Canelo seven days a week

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By Dan Ambrose: Middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders says he sees Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as a flawed fighter that he’d beat every day of the week if he ever fought the 26-year-old Mexican fighter. Saunders says he sees Canelo as an inferior to IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, and he thinks his fighting style is all wrong for him.

In looking at how the 5’9” Canelo struggled at times against the 5’10 ½” Liam Smith in their fight on September 17, it’s not hard to picture Canelo having problems with the 5’11” Saunders, because he’s taller than Canelo and Liam Smith. Saunders has a longer reach, he’s a southpaw, fast of hand, and hard to hit. He’s a boxer/puncher. However, with Saunders’ stamina problems, Canelo might be able to get the better of him in the last half of a fight against him.

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Saunders wants Golovkin or Canelo next

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By Dan Ambrose: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) says he wants to fight either middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin or Saul Canelo Alvarez next after he gets past his maiden title defense against Artur Akavov (16-1, 7 KOs) on October 22 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

Saunders would like to fight Golovkin in December, and he’s willing to travel to the U.S to make the fight happen. Saunders believes the World Boxing Association would allow Golovkin to bypass his WBA ordered fight against WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs in order to fight a unification match.

Saunders feels pretty confident Golovkin will be permitted to do that. I’m not sure if that’s the case.

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Billy Jo Saunders: Is he ready for the big time?

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By Angel Flowers: WBO World Middleweight champion Billy Jo Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) has beaten every opponent placed in front of him. While his KO ratio is slightly less than fifty percent, Saunders has faced and beaten five fighters who were undefeated before facing him including heavy handed Chris Eubank Jr. before ultimately beating Andy lee for the title knocking down the former champion multiple times in the fight.

There are many out there who believe both Eubank and Lee actually won or at least drew in their fight with Saunders, but I am of the mind that if the judges rule against you, stop crying and just get yourself better. In his first defense Saunders has avoided some tough fights in order to fight unknown and feather-fisted Artur Akavov (16-1, 7 KOs) on October 22nd at the Motorpoint Arena, in Cardiff, Wales.

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Billy Joe Saunders vs. Artur Akavov on October 22

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By Scott Gilfoid: As I predicted earlier this week in an article, WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) will be fighting little known #11 WBO fringe contender Artur Akavov (16-1 7 KOs) next month on October 22 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. I hate to be so right all the time with my predictions. This is sad news because Saunders should be fighting better opposition than this. You can always tell what type of champion a fighter is going to be when they immediately start fighting the bottom fringe contenders, as we’re seeing here with Saunders.

I rightly figured that the 28-year-old Akavov would get the fight with Saunders because he was arguably the most flawed of the World Boxing Organization’s top 15 contenders in their rankings, and sure enough, I was right. What can I say? It’s sad but I’ve gotten to the point where I can predict who Saunders will be fighting merely by studying the type of opposition he’s faced in the past.

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