Billy Joe Saunders: record, next fight and profile →
BoxingScene.com has learned that the WBO middleweight title fight between Ireland’s Andy Lee (34-2-1, 24KOs) and Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders (22-0, 12KOs) has been rescheduled for a second time after Saunders picked up an injury in training.
At some point, Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders will meet in the ring. For now, the middleweights are forced to endure yet another fight postponement. Barely a month after Lee fell ill and saw his planned September 19 hometown showcase in Limerick fall by the wayside, a cut suffered in training placed Saunders on the injured list and scratched from the rescheduled October 10 date at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Andy Lee says travelling Irish support will make his world title defence against Billy Joe Saunders feel like boxing at home. The WBO middleweight champion was scheduled to face the unbeaten Englishman in Limerick only to suffer a virus and see the bout moved to October 10 in Manchester. But Lee (34-2-1-KO24) has revealed tickets are in hot demand back home and is enthusiastic over the prospect of rewarding his loyal supporters with victory at the Manchester Arena.
Promoter Frank Warren has rejected the widespread industry rumors that slow ticket sales were the main reason or the postponement of the IBF middleweight title fight between champion Andy Lee and mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders. The fight was initially scheduled for September 19th at Thomond Park in Limerick as Lee's homecoming title defense. But two weeks ago BoxingScene.com first reported that Lee had been battling a bad virus, which affected his training camp and he needed some additional time to properly prepare for the bout.
Billy Joe Saunders says the delay to his world middleweight title clash with Andy Lee has left him ahead of schedule in his training. The unbeaten 25-year-old (22-0-KO12) challenges Lee for the WBO belt in Manchester on October 10 after the September 19 clash in Limerick was postponed due to the champion picking up a virus. That has left Saunders, who blew off some ring rust with a fourth-round stoppage of Yoann Bloyer in late July, adjusting his regime and putting back a planned training camp in Marbella.
Frank Warren held a press conference in Manchester earlier today to release further details about his October 10th bill at the city's Arena (formerly the MEN). Andy Lee’s WBO title defence against Hatfield's Billy Joe Saunders was rescheduled and moved from Ireland to England late last week due to Lee’s viral infection.
Frank Warren will hold a press conference later today, when he officially announced a three fight championship doubleheader featuring Andy Lee's WBO world middleweight fight against mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders. The press conference will start 1PM UK time, 8AM EST and 5AM PST. The bout, due to take place in Lee's hometown of Limerick on September 19, has been postponed until October 10 because the 31-year-old champion is suffering from a virus.
Ireland's Andy Lee has vowed to shrug off the loss of home advantage when he puts his WBO middleweight title on the line against Billy Joe Saunders in Manchester. Lee had originally been set to fight Saunders in his home city of Limerick in September before being forced to postpone the bout after picking up a virus. Now Lee must face Londoner Saunders on a triple world title bill which also includes Britons Terry Flanagan and Liam Smith on October 10. Lee said: "It was very disappointing because a fight in Limerick would have been a dream come true but it wasn't to be.
Switching the WBO World Middleweight title fight between champion Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders from Limerick to Manchester has not been easy decision to make. Both Lee’s manager Adam Booth, with whom I was co-promoting the event, and myself thought long and hard about disappointing the Irish fans but common sense had to prevail. With Lee hit by a virus which has interrupted his training, and despite his hope he might shake it off in a couple of weeks, the risk of him not doing so was too great.
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, WBO World Middleweight Champion, Andy Lee, has been hit with a virus which has caused his fight against mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders to be postponed from the 19th of September. Whilst the virus is not serious, Lee’s Promoter, manager and trainer, Adam Booth, informed co-promoter Frank Warren about it and whilst the Lee camp were happy to see if it cleared up in the next fortnight Warren, who also manages Billy Joe Saunders, was not prepared to take the risk with so much at stake for the Broadcasters, Boxers and the fans.