WBO world middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders must now turn his attention to mandatory challenger Avtandil Khurtsdize after a potential unification clash with Gennady Golovkin fell through.
All signs pointed toward a Golovkin-Saunders superfight in June after the unbeaten Kazakh outpointed Danny Jacobs last month.
Talks slowed, however, and this past weekend Khurtsidze stopped Tommy Langford to set up a mandatory shot at Saunders.
“The thing is with Bill, heโs probably the most frustrated fighter in boxing,” his promoter, Frank Warren, told Boxing News.
“This is a fella who walks around with a pen in his back pocket to sign a contract and everyone ducks him, even down to Golovkin. Iโm a massive fan of Golovkin, but I genuinely believe they had second thoughts about fighting Bill.
If @GGGBoxing gonna duck the fight love to fight @RealMiguelCotto
โ billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) March 29, 2017
“For us, it was a done deal. Golovkinโs people, us, Lou DiBella [Khurtsidze’s promoter] signed the step-aside to say the winner of Khurtsidze-Langford would step aside as mandatory for the WBO so that Bill could fight Golovkin.
“Thatโs not happening now at the moment, weโre hoping to resurrect it.”
A fight with Saunders would have provided WBA, WBC and IBF king Golovkin a chance to win all of the middleweight titles, something he is eager to achieve.
However, reports claim the 35-year-old has now shifted his focus to a potential September meeting with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Canelo must first get past compatriot Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr on May 6, but a verbal agreement for him to fight Golovkin in what would be the biggest fight in boxing today is said to be in place.
For Saunders, that means turning his attention to hard-hitting Brooklyn-based Georgian Khurtsidze, who he dubbed a ‘pumped up Danny DeVito’ in reference to Avtandil’s 5′ 4” stature.
“The bottom line is Bill has to fight, he canโt sit around waiting for people and against Khurtsidze itโll be a great fight, Bill wonโt have to go looking for him and we’re billing the show as โGet Shorty,” Warren revealed.
“Itโll be July 8 at the Copper Box, thatโs the date weโre planning on and weโre just waiting to hear back from DiBella to make sure his man is ready for that date, but from our end we’re all ready to go.”
IT’S ALL KICKED OFF BETWEEN @bjsaunders_ AND KHURTSIDZE! pic.twitter.com/KNrzOok6j8
โ BoxNation (@boxnationtv) April 22, 2017
Khurtsidze, one of the top middleweights in the world, has flown under the radar up until his pulverising win over Langford, which followed a 10-round demolition of unbeaten Antoine Douglas in March of last year.
Although disappointed for his man Langford, Warren is pleased that the British audiences have now seen just how dangerous the 37-year-old is.
“Out of bad comes good, Tommyโs got to regroup and come back, I just felt he just didnโt seem physically there, there wasnโt a physical presence from him on the night. He didnโt seem to settle himself down,” he said.
“If weโd have gone straight in with the mandatory [against Khurtsidze], people wouldnโt have known who he is. We paid him to step aside to make the Golovkin fight, which shows the type of fights Bill wants. If we went straight to Khurtsidze people would have asked โwho the hell is that?โ so now they know who he is and it adds a bit of spice to it.”
Golovkin’s team could not be reached for comment.