September 16, 2017 promises to be one massive night of boxing, for boxing. On this night we will have, of course, the world middleweight title fight collision between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, we will also have the inaugural WBSS 168 pound fight between Callum Smith and Erik Skoglund, and we will also have the ‘other’ world middleweight title fight.
The same night as GGG and Canelo get it on in Las Vegas with many millions of fans watching, there will be, in London, a far less hyped or anticipated 160 pound title affair – one that, though not as big as GGG-Canelo, could prove to be just as engrossing /entertaining.
British southpaw Saunders, unbeaten and the ruling WBO king, has a healthy dislike for Philly’s twice-beaten Monroe Jr, and BJS is also convinced he has what it takes to beat Triple-G – and the fight could happen, providing both he and Golovkin win next Saturday; as GGG has said many times he wants ALL the belts at 160.
Monroe, another lefty, has already been in with GGG; giving a decent enough account of himself before being overpowered in the middle rounds back in May of 2015. And the slick boxer/puncher, who has just as much disdain for BJS as he has for him, is adamant he will have too much for Saunders when they meet. At the very least, this fight will serve as one helluva starter before the middleweight main course that will come some seven or so hours later.
But Saunders-Monroe might just be something special all by itself. The two have been exchanging serious words of intent for some time now, and a little bad blood is never a bad thing ahead of a big fight. Also, both men have trained hard, hard, hard for this one. There is much at stake: BJS hasn’t put on a good performance in quite some time and he knows he needs to do so here, while Monroe needs to prove to the fans that yes, he does have what it takes to become a world champion.
In this fight, one of these two perhaps underrated boxers will do what they need to do. Who wins? That’s a tough one, and it will be a tough one – for both. Expect a long, at times very hard fight in which both men have to use their skills, guts and brains and dig deep. If it goes all 12, and it’s a good bet that this will be the case, BJS might have just enough of a home advantage to take the close win.
With it, Saunders will finally get his date with destiny – and GGG.
