BILLY JOE SAUNDERS is tipping his old rival Chris Eubank Jr to beat George Groves when they fight for the latter’s WBA super-middleweight world title in February in Manchester.
“I think that Eubank will beat George Groves. If he does what I think he will against Groves people will be talking. I think there is a 75 percent chance that Eubank wins,” Saunders said.
But he’s confident he’d repeat a victory over Eubank if they ever rematched. “When two fighters are in the ring, you know each other and I know Eubank better than anybody,” Billy maintained. “He knows that I have the knack to beat him no matter how many times we meet.
“In round 10 of our fight I was absolutely gone and he was supposed to be the fit one. I did not even have the energy to put my hand up yet I was the one who was still firing the punches at him.”
Saunders doesn’t believe Eubank would take a rematch. “Mentally he knows that I have his number,” Billy maintains. “I gave Eubank his chance to rematch three times, three times I signed a contract and sent it to him and three times he never sent it back.
“Eubank is a very, very good fighter but when a very, very good boxer with a good chin meets someone like him … it’s game over.”
Saunders will defend his WBO middleweight title against Martin Murray on April 14 at the O2. Although, until James DeGale lost to Caleb Truax, Saunders had his eye on DeGale’s IBF super-middleweight title as well and would have fought his old GB team mate on that date.
“It could have been James DeGale that I’d be fighting next and not Martin Murray but he had a little hiccup and lost his last world title fight so it didn’t happen,” Saunders revealed.
“His loss is a bit of a lesson for me because I can’t look past Martin Murray or in 12 weeks’ time it could be me without a world title.”
Watch the press conference below:
