By Edward Chaykovsky
WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders is hungry to get the "toughest fight possible" in 2017, according his promoter Frank Warren.
This coming Saturday night, Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) will make the first defense of his world title against Russian Artur Akavov (16-1, 7 KOs) at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. The fight will be Saunders' first since winning the title from Andy Lee last December.
The opponent at the top of Saunders' list is WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs).
Warren has already held conversations with Golovkin's promoter, K2 Promotions.
Before Saunders can get the opportunity to land that fight, Golovkin has to make a mandatory defense against Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs). The fight is being discussed to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 18.
Golovkin's last fight took place in September, when he traveled to the UK and stopped Saunders' countryman, IBF welterweight world champion Kell Brook, in five rounds. Brook, who moved up by thirteen pounds to take the fight, suffered a fractured eye socket and required surgery.
"We're talking to Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez and we would do our best to get them here, but that will be tough," Warren told scribe Nick Parkinson.
"Bill wants the toughest fight. He's looking for a big fight in the first quarter of next year and we have got more chance of getting Golovkin over here. It would be a huge fight, the biggest of the year over here.
"Bill's had injuries and pull-outs over the last year. Chris Eubank Jr. mucked us about and never signed a deal for a rematch, but hopefully Bill will get the ring rust off in this next one and then we can start looking forward to a really big one."
