The British and Commonwealth champion retained his titles on Thursday at York Hall against Matthew Hall and is looking for bigger fish with world title challengers Martin Murray, Matthew Macklin and Darren Barker all in the same weight class.
All three of those fighters are 30, while Saunders is seven years their junior, but he insists he is ready for the step up.
"I'm in this business to prove that I'm the best and I'll do that this year," he said.
"The domestic middleweight division is really heating up and there are some talented lads in there with Murray, Macklin and Barker.
"I'd love to test myself against any of them and I'm confident that I could beat any of them. That's not being big-headed, I know what I can do and so do my trainers and I just have to prove it.
"I'm just 23 and have plenty of time on my side, while these lads are 30, I want to fight them the sooner the better really and then look to a European title."
