By Shaun Brown and Jake Donovan
Speculation is growing that Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs) and Billy Joe Saunders (20-0, 11 KOs) will meet for the vacant WBO middleweight title on Nov 22.
The number one and two contenders with the World Boxing Organisation are now in pole position to fight for the title after Peter Quillin chose to vacate the belt rather than defend it against Korobov after Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports won with a $1,904,840 purse bid to stage the contest.
Quillin said “In order to make the fights the fans and I want against my fellow middleweights at the top of the division, I need to relinquish my title.”
Reports are coming out from America tonight that negotiations are underway between Top Rank (Korobov’s representatives) and Frank Warren (Saunders’ representatives) for the fight to take place on the Tyson Fury-Dereck Chisora 2 undercard at London’s Excel Arena.
Indeed, Saunders himself put out a rather excited tweet earlier tonight in which he said: “Some big news to bring you all tmz! #buzzing.”
That suggests that the Londoner has finally got his grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr. or he has indeed gotten his chance to become Britain’s next world champion at 160lbs. And with it the chance to follow in the footsteps of such names as; Bob Fitzsimmons, Randy Turpin, Alan Minter, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and most recently Darren Barker who won the IBF version in Aug 2013.
Korobov, 31, is coming off a UD10 win over Jose Uzcategui to claim the vacant WBO inter-continental title back in June. Saunders, 25, is fresh off winning the vacant European title after an 8th round KO victory over Emanuele Blandamura one month later.
Speaking to BoxingScene.com just moments ago, Frank Warren said: "Bob [Arum] and I are speaking at the moment and I'm quite sure we'll get something done between us. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for November and I'm hoping to get it on the Fury-Chisora 2 undercard in the U.K. We've still got a bit of a way to go yet but that's what we're trying to do."
Representatives from Top Rank—Korobov's promoter—confirmed that such a fight is on the radar for their unbeaten middleweight, but didn't confirm whether or not discussion has yet taken place. Plans to aggressively pursue the title fight will go into effect once the WBO formally orders the fight, with such news expected to come sometime this week.
Shaun Brown is the UK Editor at Boxing Scene and a contributor to Boxing Monthly. He can be contacted at sbrownboxing@gmail.com with any news, views or stories you may have.