Khurtsidze: Billy Joe Saunders is a Knockout Waiting to Happen
By Keith Idec
If Avtandil Khurtsidze gets his shot at Billy Joe Saunders, the WBO’s No. 1 middleweight contender doesn’t expect to have much trouble with the unbeaten champion.
“He’s a knockout waiting to happen,” Khurtsidze told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “I don’t put him in high regard or low regard. He just hovers somewhere in the middle to me.”
Khurtsidze (32-2-2, 21 KOs) is more than willing to travel to Saunders’ native England to back up his tough talk.
“I have to embarrass him in his hometown,” Khurtsidze added. “I’m going to knock him out in front of his friends and fans. Because I’m ready to let the world know I’m ready for the elite of the sport.”
The 37-year-old Khurtsidze is impatiently waiting to learn when he’ll get the title shot he had assumed he had earned once the WBO elevated him to the No. 1 spot in its 160-pound rankings nearly 10 months ago. The WBO moved Khurtsidze into that top spot after the rugged veteran stopped then-undefeated American Antoine Douglas (19-1-1, 13 KOs) in the 10th-round of their March 5 fight in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Khurtsidze thought he would get his title shot sometime in 2016, but Saunders chose to make his first title defense against Russia’s Artur Akavov (16-2, 7 KOs), an optional opponent who then was ranked No. 10 by the WBO. Saunders struggled at times against Akavov and acknowledged after winning a unanimous decision December 3 in Paisley, Scotland, that he’d need at least one more fight before being ready for a high-profile fight against Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) or Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs).
Later in December, the WBO installed Alvarez, its 154-pound champion, as the mandatory challenger for Saunders’ title.
Khurtsidze’s representatives decided against appealing the WBO championship committee’s decision. They’re instead waiting to find out if an Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez fight gets made for May 6, which would apply pressure on Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) to make his overdue mandatory defense, presumably against Khurtsidze.
“He did not fight anyone in the top 10,” Khurtsidze said, dismissing Akavov’s ranking. “As a champion, you should constantly prove you deserve to be there. One should not look for easier opponents. But he still was unimpressive in his last fight. I’m ready to fight competition above him. He needs to step aside or prove that he could hang with someone like me.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
