WBO middleweight champion, Andy Lee (34-2-1, 24ko), has warned mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders (22-0, 12ko) that he hits ‘as hard, if not harder’ than destructive WBA/IBF champion, Gennady Golovkin.
Lee defends his title against the Hatfield fighter on Dec. 19 in Manchester, with the winner then ostensibly on a 2016 collision course with the big-hitting Kazakh, a unification fight that Lee has stated he is keen on for next year.
WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee, has today scotched rumours and conspiracy theories that he was seeking to negotiate a unification fight with Gennady Golovkin rather than first face mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders.
Lee finally boxes Saunders on December 19th in Manchester in the Queensbury Promotions “X-mas Cracker” bill that will also feature world champions Liam Smith and Terry Flanagan in individual world title fights, though after separate postponements from both Lee and Saunders camps in the build up, a rumour had gathered pace that the fight may not happen at all, with the Irishman going ‘Golovkin hunting’ instead.
Lee met face-to-face with Saunders at today’s press conference as the clock counts down to their Saturday 19th December barnstormer at the Manchester Arena, but rumours have been circulating that Lee’s team have been negotiating a fight with top pound-for-pounder GGG.
While it seems that some fighters at 160 don’t really want the big fights in the division – or at best want to pick and choose them – one cannot say the same for Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux, who clash in a unification Saturday in New York – and now WBO champ “Irish” Andy Lee has added his name to that [short] list of middleweights keen to fight the best and unify titles.
Lee finally has a rescheduled December 19th date with mandatory challenger, Billy Joe Saunders, and says that when he comes through that fight, he will seek out those big unification fights – ostensibly chasing the winners of Golovkin/Lemieux and November’s Cotto/Canelo WBC clash.
WBO World Middleweight Champion Andy Lee and challenger Billy Joe Saunders will finally collide at the Manchester Arena on Saturday 19th December in a Christmas extravaganza.
The premier 160lb fighters are raring to get in the ring and decide who is the best after seeing two previous postponements of their fight – Lee with a viral infection and Saunders with a cut eye – and both are promising to close the year with an explosive ending, live and exclusive on BoxNation.
After a string of bad luck surrounding Andy Lee’s WBO 160 lb title defence against mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders – including two separate postponements – veteran British promoter Frank Warren has spoken out to insist that, all being well, the fight WILL happen before the end of this year.
Many theories abounded as to why the fight moved from the original September date and venue – Thomond Park in Limerick – although the official line is as a result of a virus suffered by the champion, meaning the fight was then set to top the bumper October 10 ‘World War 3’ card from Manchester, that also includes WBO lightweight champ, Terry Flanagan and Liverpool’s Liam Smith in separate world title bouts.
The fabled ‘luck of the Irish’ has hardly been with the Emerald Isle’s WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee – or for that matter, with veteran British promoter Frank Warren, ahead Lee’s much-anticipated clash with Hatfield’s mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders – that was due to take place in Manchester, England, on Oct 10th.
The fight has now had to be postponed AGAIN, after already moving back 3 weeks from Limerick, Ireland (Lee’s hometown) – ostensibly due to a ‘virus’ suffered by the champion – and following this second unfortunate drama – a cut sustained by Saunders in sparring -it looks like fans will be waiting until NOVEMBER to see them get it on.
Today’s drama had stemmed from the following tweet from Frank Warren;
After a venue switch from Thomond Park in his Limerick, Ireland hometown, to the Manchester Arena in England, WBO middleweight champion “Irish” Andy Lee has conceded that the dynamic of his October 10th fight with Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders has ostensibly shifted, now that it is the challenger, rather than Lee himself, who will be on “home” soil.
The “party line” is that the champion was suffering from a virus that caused the change of date and location for the contest, although poor ticket sales are still thought to have been a deciding factor – something that will no longer be a problem given the stacked “World War 3” triple-world title bill the fight now headlines.
Hatfield middleweight Billy Joe Saunders is remaining upbeat ahead of his world title challenge to WBO 160 lb champion Andy Lee on October 10th in Manchester, in the face of a venue switch that delayed the biggest fight of his career by three weeks.
Saunders, who boxed a tune up last month against Yoann Bloyer in London, headed out to the MGM facility in Marbella to get his head down away from the distractions that have presented themselves at earlier points in his career, though was called back after Andy Lee ostensibly “picked up a virus,” and the fight was switched from Thomond Park in Limerick, to topping a world title triple header in Manchester that will also feature Terry Flanagan and Liam Smith in respective world title bouts.
WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee’s defence of his title against Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders, that was scheduled for Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland has been postponed until October 10th and moved to the M.E.N Arena in Manchester, England.
In a joint statement last night from co-promoters Frank Warren and Adam Booth, it was claimed the Irishman is suffering from a virus that means the September date was potentially in jeopardy;
“Andy’s had a virus and he’s recovering from it, or he’s about recovered from it, according to Adam Booth, who’s contacted me.,” Warren said.