Billy Joe Saunders wants to see what his options are!

[Enlightened-One]

"Billy Joe Saunders wants to see what his options are"

Billy Joe Saunders is using his time off to heal from the eye injury he sustained against Canelo Alvarez and decide what options are out there for him if he chooses to fight again.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says he wants former two-division world champion Saunders (30-1, 14 KOs) to fight again because he showed a lot of ability in his loss to superstar Canelo in May 8th.

If Saunders opts to continue his career, it will make sense to be fighting guys that the boxing public is interested in seeing him battle. That would mean Billy Joe fighting these types of guys:

• Chris Eubank Jr
• Gennadiy Golovkin
• Demetrius Andrade
• Callum Smith
• David Benavidez
• Caleb Plant
• Jermall Charlo

Saunders, 31, fought Canelo almost to a standstill until he suffered a freak left eye injury from an uppercut the Mexican star hit him with in the eighth round.

The eye injury was bad enough for Saunders’ corner to stop the fight after the eighth round. Although some boxing fans felt that Billy Joe had quit, the fact is that it was his corner that pulled the plug on the fight.

“I had a conversation with Billy Joe [Saunders] last week, and I think he’s undecided,” said Hearn to Boxing Social on Billy Joe’s plans on whether to continue fighting.

“I said to him that I’d like to see him fight again because I feel like he did well in the fight [with Canelo Alvarez].

“More than that, I think he embraced the whole occasion. Sometimes you see a fighter get in the ring with Canelo Alvarez, and they’re not there, they’re not in the present in the ring, and they don’t really believe [in themselves].

“What I saw on that night was a guy [Billy Joe] that did believe in himself. As much as it was hard work in the build-up with Billy, and everyone knows that. He was great fun in that build-up.

“He drove the fight, even though he wasn’t trying to drive the fight, he ended up driving the fight and also drove me mad.

“But what I saw when I saw a fighter walkout was someone that was meant to be there. That was his stage.

“Coming into that fight, we talked a little bit about that fight, and obviously what happened with his [Billy Joe] eye, and he had no choice after that injury,” said Hearn.

“I think he realizes he has to take a break physically, and then he wants to see what options are available to him and sit down with his dad and his team and have a look at it,” said Hearn about Billy Joe.

“I’ve stressed that I would love to see him fight again, but he’s also made a huge amount of money.

“He’s a two-weight world champion, and he’s now been on the biggest stage in boxing.

“It’s now just down to hunger now. It’s probably down to ‘Do I want to fight again. Do I want to put myself through it.’ Hopefully, the answer is, ‘Yes,'” said Hearn.

Thoughts?

[The Asleep Lamps]

If he fights again we will all watch it but if I were him then I'm not getting punched anymore in the eye. It sucks but sometimes life doesn't go the way we want it to.

[Stevieaber]

32 next month, 5 fights since beating Lemieux in Dec 2017 and fresh off a bumper payday (I presume). Will be hard getting motivated I would have thought. Don’t think his profile in the US is high enough to raise too much interest either. I think he’s got enough to continue if he wants, np but don’t know if the incentive is there.

[Noxy]

If he’s not done (only he knows). I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win another title, or at least win one or two big fights.

[Enlightened-One]

If Saunders’ mind and body can recover from the trauma of his injuries, with his self-confidence intact despite his loss, then he’s good enough to achieve a certain amount of success in the sport.

From the names listed by the article, only the Chris Eubank Jr. fight seems immediately viable. Sauerland and Hearn are boxing content partners, which kind of makes them stablemates.

Callum Smith is making the jump to 175lbs, which means he’s out of the running.

And all the other guys will continue being risk-averse, by taking easy bouts, until they’ve reached the front of the lottery-winning Canelo mega-payday queue.

Fortunately, Saunders’ is aligned with Matchroom/DAZN, which has a strong stable of 160lbs and 168lb-ers.

So I expect Eddie Hearn to find someone half-decent for Billy Joe to fight, but the Brit won’t receive another world title shot until one of the belts has been vacated. No one will want to fight him, because they all have bigger fish to fry.

[bobcatbox]

He proved to be a very tough out against Canelo. He outboxed the P4P best fighter in the world in multiple rounds, and Canelo wasn’t able to put him on the deck, even after breaking his face. Nobody smart would want to fight BJS. He is likely going to end up the best super middle in the division when Canelo moves up to 175 in 1-2 years.

[caldo2025]

I’m assuming that by “options” you are referring to Lensecrafters and styles of frames and lenses.

[margaret thatcher]

He is likely going to end up the best super middle in the division when Canelo moves up to 175 in 1-2 years.

nope, it's downhill from here if anything. even if the eye holds up there are better and fresher fighters in the division

[Perseus]

BJS first fight back from injury: Felix Sturm

That would be my choice Sturm may think BJS is damaged goods and maybe should not be in the ring at all.
Cherry picking a fighter with name recognition and a good record.

Sturm......umm......just doesn't hit like Canelo so that's good for BJS.
Sturm is 42 and faded but has name recognition himself and should be a winnable fight even for a degraded version of BJS.

[bobcatbox]

He is likely going to end up the best super middle in the division when Canelo moves up to 175 in 1-2 years.

nope, it's downhill from here if anything. even if the eye holds up there are better and fresher fighters in the division

The eye is going to be questionable I concede but who are you thinking? Benavidez? I can see him dominating the division if he can stay at 168 lbs. You think they’ll bring up Berlanga that quick? We’ve seen admittedly little of him besides his undeniable power. Presumably Fundora’s body has to force him to 168 at some point. He won’t be as freakishly big then but still big. Don’t see him having the same kind of dominance at that weight class.

[cormack]

He is likely going to end up the best super middle in the division when Canelo moves up to 175 in 1-2 years.

nope, it's downhill from here if anything. even if the eye holds up there are better and fresher fighters in the division

isnt it always downhill after a canelo beating ...

I would expect some big money for a rematch with eubanks in the UK maybe

[giacomino]

If he comes back you'd like to see him in with one of the fighters near the top, but the reality is before Canelo, he hadn't fought a legitimate top 10 opponent in 3 1/2 years. Props to him for cashing in but his management was milking the softy route before Canelo and I have to wonder if they will return to their old ways now that he's earned his retirement $$$

[Enlightened-One]

If he comes back you'd like to see him in with one of the fighters near the top, but the reality is before Canelo, he hadn't fought a legitimate top 10 opponent in 3 1/2 years. Props to him for cashing in but his management was milking the softy route before Canelo and I have to wonder if they will return to their old ways now that he's earned his retirement $$$

At some point or other, Canelo (twice), Golovkin (twice), Lemieux, Khurtsidze, Andrade and Eubank Jr. have all previously either declined opportunities to face Saunders or expressed their disinterest in facing the Brit or withdrew from bouts that Billy Joe had signed-up for.

Canelo withdrew from a mandatory challenger position to face Saunders after initially lobbying for it. And prior to that, GBP renegged on the terms of a two-fight deal with Queensbury.

Khurtsidze withdrew from the Saunders bout, due to his criminal actions.

Saunders twice signed to face GGG, as confirmed by Tom Loeffler, but Gennadiy went a different route. To be fair, Golovkin received a better offer from Canelo for one of the deals the Brit had signed.

Prior to the MSAC situation, Andrade is on video claiming he wasn't ready to face Saunders yet.

And prior to Saunders' domination of Lemieux, David said he had bigger fish to fry than the Brit and rejected a fight.

Chris Eubank Jr. rejected an offer to face Saunders in the rematch.

Saunders is also injury prone and withdrew from several bouts.

That's the problem with reading resumes without context, it doesn't tell you the fights that could/should have been made.

[giacomino]

If he comes back you'd like to see him in with one of the fighters near the top, but the reality is before Canelo, he hadn't fought a legitimate top 10 opponent in 3 1/2 years. Props to him for cashing in but his management was milking the softy route before Canelo and I have to wonder if they will return to their old ways now that he's earned his retirement $$$

At some point or other, Canelo (twice), Golovkin (twice), Lemieux, Khurtsidze, Andrade and Eubank Jr. have all previously either declined opportunities to face Saunders or expressed their disinterest in facing the Brit or withdrew from bouts that Billy Joe had signed-up for.

Canelo withdrew from a mandatory challenger position to face Saunders after initially lobbying for it. And prior to that, GBP renegged on the terms of a two-fight deal with Queensbury.

Khurtsidze withdrew from the Saunders bout, due to his criminal actions.

Saunders twice signed to face GGG, as confirmed by Tom Loeffler, but Gennadiy went a different route. To be fair, Golovkin received a better offer from Canelo for one of the deals the Brit had signed.

Prior to the MSAC situation, Andrade is on video claiming he wasn't ready to face Saunders yet.

And prior to Saunders' domination of Lemieux, David said he had bigger fish to fry than the Brit and rejected a fight.

Chris Eubank Jr. rejected an offer to face Saunders in the rematch.

Saunders is also injury prone and withdrew from several bouts.

That's the problem with reading resumes without context, it doesn't tell you the fights that could/should have been made.

Yes, Everybody was just running from Saunders. Thanks for the clarification

[Enlightened-One]

If he comes back you'd like to see him in with one of the fighters near the top, but the reality is before Canelo, he hadn't fought a legitimate top 10 opponent in 3 1/2 years. Props to him for cashing in but his management was milking the softy route before Canelo and I have to wonder if they will return to their old ways now that he's earned his retirement $$$

At some point or other, Canelo (twice), Golovkin (twice), Lemieux, Khurtsidze, Andrade and Eubank Jr. have all previously either declined opportunities to face Saunders or expressed their disinterest in facing the Brit or withdrew from bouts that Billy Joe had signed-up for.

Canelo withdrew from a mandatory challenger position to face Saunders after initially lobbying for it. And prior to that, GBP renegged on the terms of a two-fight deal with Queensbury.

Khurtsidze withdrew from the Saunders bout, due to his criminal actions.

Saunders twice signed to face GGG, as confirmed by Tom Loeffler, but Gennadiy went a different route. To be fair, Golovkin received a better offer from Canelo for one of the deals the Brit had signed.

Prior to the MSAC situation, Andrade is on video claiming he wasn't ready to face Saunders yet.

And prior to Saunders' domination of Lemieux, David said he had bigger fish to fry than the Brit and rejected a fight.

Chris Eubank Jr. rejected an offer to face Saunders in the rematch.

Saunders is also injury prone and withdrew from several bouts.

That's the problem with reading resumes without context, it doesn't tell you the fights that could/should have been made.

Yes, Everybody was just running from Saunders. Thanks for the clarification

Well, I can prove each claim. quite easily in fact!

It’s fairly straightforward to copy/past videos and interview transcripts to prove what I've said, because I've had the same discussion numerous times.

People like you don’t follow the sport. They just look at resumes and can’t be bothered to fact-check other sources of information.

Anyway, I’m not saying people were running scared, but perhaps they made business decisions, a bit like what we're currently seeing today, whereby all the best 160lb-ers aren't fighting each other.

Put it this way, Callum Smith recently rejected an offer to face Billy Joe Saunders, because he wanted the Canelo fight instead.

And if you didn’t know that, then you shouldn’t be doubting me.