IF Billy Joe Saunders can defend his middleweight world title against Willie Monroe Jr on Saturday (September 16) at the Copperbox, his promoter Frank Warren insists the WBO champion will be on course to take on the winner of the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez super-fight.
“It’s very close. If he delivers, I’ll deliver. If Golovkin wins, it’s a done deal. It’s just a matter of coming through it. Willie Monroe is going to be difficult for him: he’s not here to make up the numbers. Both of these guys can see a pot of gold there. Bill wants to test himself, be in there with the best. If he wins the fight, gets the winner of those two: it’s a fantastic position to be in, he can write his own cheques,” Warren said. “He’s a fight away from producing the best British performance I can think of in my time in boxing. I can’t think of any Briton who’s gone and beaten someone of that calibre.”
Saunders’ next outing will be in December. “We’re hoping that’ll be against the winner. If Alvarez wins, that might not be until next year, depending on when he’s going to fight, but certainly as far as Golovkin’s concerned, that’ll be done very quickly,” Warren continued.
Billy Joe had actually been close to securing a fight with Golovkin earlier this year. “We had a contract for it. The reason it didn’t happen was after the fight with [Danny] Jacobs, they decided that he needed a break. And if I was working with him, I’d have given him a break. [Golovkin] is probably one of the most active fighters in the world at championship level, had become a little bit stale, so he’s had that time out now and got the bit between his teeth.”
Saunders fighting Alvarez will be more complicated. “It depends when he’s going to fight. He fights on Mexican holidays: that’s where he earns all his money. He’s not a guy who fights three or four times a year; he’s been fighting twice a year,” the promoter noted.
But he added, “Whoever wins, [Saunders] has got an important piece of the jigsaw providing he beats Willie Monroe. If he comes through the fight, he’s got the other belt. And who’s there for the winner to fight? It’s got to be him. That’s where we’re at.
“It depends how that fight turns out. I think it’s going to be a great fight, but Bill’s there, and one thing’s for sure, he’s not going to be sitting on his arse while he’s got this attitude, because I want him out there doing what he should be doing.”
