ADAM BOOTH is the first to admit that he never expected to be the trainer of Billy Joe Saunders. It was only 15 months ago that Saunders was in the opposite corner to Booth. On that night in December 2015, Billy Joe took the WBO middleweight title from Adam’s fighter, Andy Lee. Now, Saunders and Lee are stablemates, as Booth coaches them both.
“I would never have thought that I’d be training Billy Joe – never,” Booth chuckled. “It’s not a normal thing. But I’m learning as I get older that in this sport – both inside and outside the ring – anything can happen.”
While Booth is currently training Saunders, the pair are still yet to have their first fight together. Regarding potential opponents, Adam suggested that an option could well be the winner of the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight title clash between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs this Saturday (March 18) in New York. However, the respected coach also interestingly stated that a potential avenue for Billy Joe could be a move up to super-middleweight, where fellow top British fighters like James DeGale, George Groves, Chris Eubank Jnr and Callum Smith all currently ply their trade.
Booth said: “I expect Billy Joe to take a fight with anyone now – at middle or super-middle. We’re just waiting to hear what that fight will be. While we’re waiting, we’re working together and he’s grafting hard and learning a new way of training. It’s nice to have had some time to get used to working together.
“If ‘GGG’ wins tomorrow, I do expect him to talk about Billy Joe, because that’d be for all the marbles, wouldn’t it. We’ll just wait and see. If you look at the potential fights out there for Billy Joe that are winnable big fights, at middleweight it’s the winner of Golovkin-Jacobs, and at super-middleweight in the UK, you can take your pick. It’s an interesting time coming up for him.”
