On Wednesday, 160-pound contender Gabriel Rosado launched a scathing attack on WBO middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Saunders (23-0, 12KOs) had been expected to meet Rosado (23-9, 13 KOs) on the undercard of Liam Smith v Saul Alvarez this weekend but passed up the opportunity and will instead defend his crown on Fury v Klitschko II on October 29.
Rosado will instead take on Willie Monroe Jr and said in an interview reported in the Daily Mail: "Billy Joe has no interest in defending the title, he just wants to capitalise on making money off it.
"If he wanted to defend the title like a true champion, he would have come to the States like Calzaghe and Hatton and proved to the American people he is a star. He chooses to hold the title hostage and go for the money. That is what it comes down to. We plan on knocking out Monroe and then maybe we will fight Billy-Joe in the UK. I know there are a lot of opportunities that present itself."
Rosado added: "He didn't want to fight me. He said: 'What do I get out of beating Rosado?' But what does he mean? You get a chance to fight the winner of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez against Liam Smith. You get to show America who you are. If you want to be a star, all the big guys from Britain when they wanted to be stars they came to America - Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton. What does this say about him? It shows he is not interested in his legacy or defending titles. He is just interested in making a cheque."
Saunders came firing right back, calling Rosado a journeyman and predicting that he will lose to Monroe on Saturday night.
"If I was holding it hostage, he [Rosado] would need an AK47 and to bring the US army to take it from me. He is a journeyman who is going to get a beating this weekend from another bum. He needs to learn how to do business before a fight," Saunders said
