Andy Lee says he wants to fight middleweight king Gennady Golovkin because he'd be the first fighter to give him "serious problems".

Lee, the WBO middleweight world champion will take on challenger Billy Joe Saunders in Manchester on Saturday night, in his first official defence since winning the title a year ago.

Should Lee (34-2-1-KO24) come through the bout, he says he would want the chance to take on Golovkin, who is expected to face Saul Alvarez in the autumn, claiming he has the size and the power to give the 33-year-old problems.

"It's all speculation and if I don't beat Billy Joe Saunders it won't happen," Lee told Sky Sports.

"But I believe I am the only one who can give him a serious challenge out there. I have the size, the punch and the boxing ringcraft.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone push him back or bully him like he does to his opponents.

"And for me, you have to give him bit of that, not tense up or tighten up under the pressure he puts people under. You have to be an animal if you want to beat an animal. And I'd do that."

Lee's showdown with Saunders has been pushed back twice in the last two months which means the Irishman has seen Chris Eubank Jr join up with his trainer Adam Booth.

The middleweights have been training with Boot at different times and venues before Eubank Jr beat Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan at the O2 on Saturday, but now the WBO champion says he will step out of the shadows and make a statement against Saunders.

"There's still plenty I want to show people in his fight and I want to show the improvements I have made since the last fight," Lee added.

"Experience is a big thing in any fights, but in this one as well. I've been tested more than he has, in terms of my fights.

"I've always been away from home and a lot of times I've been the underdog and I've prevailed. I've been asked a lot of hard questions and I've answered them and I don't think Saunders has to the same extent.

I don't want to discredit him but when you're in those fights, behind or in a hard fight, you find out  who you are and he has to find this out in the biggest fight of his life for the first time.

"We'll see what he's made of."