THE promoter of WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders, Frank Warren is adamant the new champion wants to go straight in with the likes of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin, if the Mexican and the Kazakh can’t come to an agreement to make their own middleweight unification clash.
“They’re all tough fights. This is the first defence, so it’s not like he’s taking easy options. Bill says I want big fights. If it was me I’d have him fighting [Max] Bursak, get that under his belt [their April 30 bout had to be cancelled when Saunders sustained a hand injury]. But unfortunately that’s not to be. But Bill wants big fights so we’ve got to do big fights,” Warren told Boxing News.
Saunders’ hopes of GGG or Canelo will be on hold while they discuss their super-fight. That means a rematch with Chris Eubank Jnr could creep back into the frame, though negotiations there are fraught with difficulty. “I’ve lost the will to live dealing with his old man,” Warren sighed.
The promoter had been working on arranging a major fight for Saunders this summer. “Bill, he banged his hand up, we’re really disappointed because we had a stadium booked for a massive fight in the summer and obviously that’s gone by the wayside. He won’t be ready in time. He’ll be having a big fight now in September. We’re working on that,” the promoter revealed.
