By Edward Chaykovsky
WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12KOs) looks forward to the possibility of a major fight in the summer.
According to Saunders, he could face Gennady Golovkin unification or a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr.
Saunders was scheduled to defend his title for the first time on April 30th against Max Bursak, but suffered a left hand injury in sparring and withdrew from the contest.
Golovkin defends his WBA/IBO/IBF middleweight belts this coming Saturday night against IBF mandatory challenger Dominic Wade.
If Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) wins, he is then the mandatory challenger for the winner of the May 7th showdown between WBC champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Amir Khan.
Because of his mandatory status, it is very unlikely that Golovkin will agree to fight Saunders until the situation with the WBC title shot is resolved. If the winner of Canelo-Khan refuses to fight him, then Golovkin would become the WBC champion by default - and Saunders would become the next immediate option on their list.
As for Eubank, Saunders won a split decision over him in November of 2014 and there have been issues in making a rematch ever since.
“I’m going to jump straight into the big fight. My part is all done, signed and in the post, so hopefully we’ll get it on. It’s either a big rematch or Golovkin. If it’s a second fight with Eubank, I’ll smash him to pieces. He won’t lay a glove on me — bet your house on it. As for Golovkin, to be the best you’ve got to beat the best. On paper, he’s 10 times better than me, but on the night I’ll test myself to see how good I am," Saunders explained to The Sun.
“Am I the best? Can I be undisputed champion of the world? We’ll see. Anybody who faces Golovkin is beaten before they get in the ring. He’s in everybody’s head. If I’m in with Golovkin, I wouldn’t give a s**t. Win, lose or draw, I’ll go in there to fight.”
