By CompuBox
WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (+11.6) vaults into a tie for the #6 spot on the CompuBox Plus/Minus Leaders list following his +19.6 performance vs. David Lemieux, who landed an avg. of just six punches per round.
As Saunders jab goes, so goes Saunders, as 62.2% of his landed punches are jabs- #1 among Compubox Category Leaders & 34% higher than the CompuBox average.
Saunders just doesn't throw his jab - he lands it- 28.4%- #3 among CompuBox Category Leaders and 8.1% higher than the CompuBox average.
Less is definitely more for Saunders, who averages just 37.3 punches thrown per round- fewest among CompuBox Cat. Leaders and 18.2 fewer thrown per round than the CompuBox Average.
Saunders' movement, selective punch output & effective jab offers opponents minimal counter punching opportunities. Saunders opponents landed just 7.1 punches per round (less than half the CompuBox avg.) and just 4.2 power punches (one-third the CompuBox avg.)
Saunders opponents landed just 18.2% of their total punches - a mere 1.7% fewer than top defender Lomachenko.
Saunders opponents land 13.6% fewer power punches than the CompuBox average and just 2.6% less than #1 Lomachenko.
Conclusion: Saunders possesses Lomachenko-like movement & defensive skills, but in order to attain pound for pound status, he'll need to step up his offensive output: 37.3 punches thrown per round- fewest among C'Box Cat. Leaders-(Loma averages 62.4 thrown per round); 11.1 punches landed per round- second fewest among C'Box Cat. Leaders-(Loma lands 22.4 per round) and power landed per round- 4.2 per round- fewest among C'Box Cat. Leaders-(Loma lands 14.9 power shots per round).
