British boxing great Carl Froch says WBO Middleweight King Billy Joe Saunders has the skills to take out Kazakh middleweight king Gennady Golovkin.
Froch, a four-time super-middleweight world champion, refuses to jump on the GGG bandwagon and has backed the undefeated Saunders to prove he is the world’s true middleweight champion.
Speaking to The Sun, the retired super-middleweight supremo said: “I’m not putting Golovkin on this pedestal that everyone has him on. Who has he beaten that Billy Joe couldn’t? His reputation is inflated. He’s obviously a very good fighter and can punch very hard but he’s a small middleweight,
“Beat somebody who is quality, beat him in style and I’ll start talking about you like you’re the next Sugar Ray Leonard or something.”
Froch added: “When I watch Golovkin, I see him getting hit with shots. He walks through them to land his but he’s wide open coming forward.”
The Jimmy Tibbs trained Hatfield star, 23-0-0 12 KO’s, makes the first defence of his world title against Golovkin’s compatriot ‘Mad’ Max Bursak; a man who boasts wins over British Champion Nick Blackwell and Brian Vera.
Saunders has previously expressed his desire to take on Golovkin in a massive summer showdown at the Emirates or Wembley and is now even more determined to nail down a lucrative world title unification fight.
He said: “Since I’ve won the world title I’ve grown in confidence. Having a man of Carl Froch’s experience backing me to win has given me even more of a boost. Carl Froch was one of the best fighters about so for him to say that is something. I already know in myself that I’ve got the beating of Golovkin with the right tactics.”
WBO World Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders makes the first defence of his title against “Mad” Max Bursak and headlines an action-packed card that also features: The Vacant European Cruiserweight title between Ovill McKenzie and Dmytro Kucher; Ryan Walsh defends his British Featherweight Championship against James Tennyson; Anthony Nelson defends his Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Championship against Jamie Conlon. On the undercard fast rising undefeated heavyweight sensation Hughie Fury, Erith super-bantamweight Lewis Pettitt; Chingford super-featherweight Boy Jones Jnr; Indian middleweight sensation Vijender Singh; Chelmsford super-middleweight Billy Long, West Ham super-welterweight Sammy McNess; Sidcup super-featherweight D.P Carr; West Ham super-lightweight Ben Smith; Hornchurch super-lightweight Sanjeev Sahota; Nantwich heavyweight Nathan Gorman and Enfield super-middleweight Barney Joe Jones, all feature.
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