Billy Joe Saunders: record, next fight and profile →
Billy Joe Saunders defends his WBO middleweight title against Willie Monroe Jnr on Saturday having been told a unification fight with Gennady Golovkin is essentially a "done deal". The 28-year-old fights his American opponent at London's Copper Box Arena just hours before Golovkin defends his WBA, WBC, IBO and IBF titles in his Las Vegas superfight with Saul Alvarez, and should he succeed, expects to fight the winner.
WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) and challenger Willie Monroe Jr. (21-2, 6 early) both weighed in successfully for tomorrow night’s fight at London's Copper Box Arena despite a spot of late drama arising after Saunders’s young son punched Monroe in the groin then aimed a kick at the American visitor before being removed from the fray.
Billy Joe Saunders is desperate to make a successful defence of his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) middleweight title against Willie Monroe Jr so he can set up a 'super fight' with either Gennady Golovkin or Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. The British boxer makes his second defence of the WBO belt against Monroe Jr of the United States in London on Saturday. But a bigger prize is also at stake for Saunders and Monroe Jr as victory is expected to pave the way for a shot at the winner of Saturday's other world middleweight title fight between Golovkin and Alvarez.
Willie Monroe Jr challenges Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO middleweight title on Saturday boosted by a delayed flight as Hurricane Irma meant he was able to attend the birth of his daughter. The American will fight to win the only one of the four world middleweight titles not involved in the superfight between Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin in Las Vegas just hours later.
In his concluding exclusive diary entry before his second defence of the WBO world middleweight title at the Copper Box on Saturday, Billy Joe Saunders offers his final thoughts on the task ahead of him against Willie Monroe.
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, things got very tense at the open workouts for Billy Joe Saunders' upcoming world title defense against challenger Willie Monroe. During a war of words between both camps, Saunders called Monroe a "queer" - which raised some eyebrows among the press members attending the workouts at London's Peacock Gym.
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS has the perfect platform to prove that he rightly belongs in the big three middleweights of the world at the Copper Box on Saturday evening Against the talented New Yorker Willie Monroe jr, Bill has a big opportunity to put a marker down and demonstrate that he is a force to be reckoned with. To the thrilling backdrop of the Las Vegas blockbuster between Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez taking place a few hours later – also on BoxNation – it is up to Bill to go out there and stake his claim to fight the winner.
By Thomas Gerbasi - Willie Monroe Jr. is in that “other” middleweight title fight this weekend, far away from Las Vegas, where Gennady Golovkin and “Canelo” Alvarez will have the boxing world watching intently. Instead, Monroe will be in London’s Copper Box Arena, the foreign invader taking on the local hero...
As Willie Monroe Jr. challenges WBO middleweight belt-holder, Billy Joe Saunders, at the Copper Box Arena in England, American boxing fans will have a chance to see this match-up live on Saturday.
Dominic Ingle believes Billy Joe Saunders will show this weekend why he’s the man to topple middleweight superstars Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. The Hatfield traveller has been whipped into shape by new trainer Ingle for Saturday’s WBO world title defence against Willie Monroe Jr at London’s Copper Box Arena.