Billy Joe Saunders, the reigning and undefeated WBO middleweight champion, has been teasing fans over who he could fight next. Speaking first with BoxNation and then iFL TV, the southpaw said that although he cannot say too much, his next fight – one that is practically signed and sealed – will be a “mega-fight, against the best of the best.”
“I’m not going to say no to a mega-fight that’ll hopefully be signed for a hell of a lot of money in the upcoming week, at middleweight,” Saunders, 24-0(12) said. “There’s a couple of different things we have to get in. You will genuinely know who it is, it’s the best of the best. I can’t say too much because everything has been done, like money. All the things that mess fights about have been done. All it is now is a small thing, and I will have to travel. This fight should get staged in America but it won’t, I’ve got to go to his home country I think.”
Intriguing indeed, but just who could this mystery fighter be? The name Gennady Golovkin instantly springs to mind, and the internet is awash with rumours that say Saunders will fight GGG in his home country of Kazakhstan; presuming of course that Golovkin gets past Danny Jacobs okay in March. But if it’s not GGG Saunders is talking about, who else could it possibly be? It can’t be Canelo Alvarez – another fighter who Saunders has been mentioned as a possible opponent for quite recently – as Canelo is fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Junior in May.
Saunders did not say the fight he is hoping for will be at middleweight, but could it be a big name at 154-pounds who is moving up to 160? Or could it even perhaps be a super-middleweight star who wants to drop down in weight?
It really is tough to think of who it could (hopefully) be for Saunders unless it’s Golovkin. But would GGG really look past Jacobs, an opponent he says is his biggest and best test yet, and plan another fight for the future?
Saunders should put us out of our misery and spill the beans next week some time.
