Saunders to fight either Akavov or Brant, then GGG in February

BY MITCH ABRAMSON Middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders has narrowed his search to two opponents for his next fight. Promoter Frank Warren revealed on a conference call on Tuesday that Russia’s Artur Akavov (16-1, 7 knockouts) and Minnesota’s Rob Brant (21-0, 14 KOs) are the leading contenders to face Saunders next. The WBO titleholder is set to make his next appearance on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s heavyweight championship rematch with Wladimir Klitschko on Oct. 29 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England after being out of action since last December when he won the title against Andy Lee. Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) was supposed to fight in April but withdrew from the fight because of a hand injury. “We’re looking at a couple of opponents at the moment,” Warren said at the outset of the call. “One is Artur Akavov from Russia, who is ranked No. 11 in the WBO. And the other one is Rob Brant, who is ranked No. 7 in the WBO. We’ll make our decision on the opponent in the next day or so, hopefully we can do it before I fly out to the states for the Liam Smith fight this weekend (against Canelo Alvarez on HBO PPV).” Akavov is now living in Brooklyn, New York and has won 11 straight since dropping a decision to 3-1 Leg Liseev in Russia in just his sixth fight. He last fought at BB King’s in Manhattan, stopping Todd Manuel (11-10) in the sixth round on a Lou DiBella-promoted card. Brant rose to attention after recording a one-punch knockout against DeCarlo Perez in the fourth round on a Jan. 22 ShoBox card and then stopping Delray Raines in the first round in April. “Bill has been out of the ring for over a year for various circumstances,” Warrren said on Tuesday. “It’s very unfortunate. It’s not been very ideal. He’s been on the cusp of big fights, having signed twice to fight (Chris) Eubank Jr., which never happened because as we all know that’s their MO as we’ve seen with Golovkin. We’re now trying to get a fight under his belt and hopefully he comes through on the 29th and then we’ll be looking to make a big fight for him in February.” http://www.ri ngtv.com/author/mabramson/ Rob Brant would be great fight to watch. He's a quick, strong boxer who could upset BJS. He needs more experience, but he has the ability. Jacobs/Golovkin will happen before Saunders/Golovkin. BY MITCH ABRAMSON Billy Joe Saunders claims that finances won’t be a reason he doesn’t face Gennady Golovkin in a possible middleweight unification fight in 2017. “There is no pricing myself out,” Saunders said. Golovkin put pressure on the WBO titleholder to get into the ring after calling him out following his fifth-round destruction of Kell Brook on Saturday in London. Golovkin and Saunders were in talks earlier this year but Saunders abandoned the negotiations over money, saying he was only offered $1.5 million while others said it was much more. On Tuesday, Saunders, who has repeatedly called out Golovkin in what few believe is a sincere effort to face him, said that money won’t be an issue the next time they negotiate. Saunders interrupted a question meant for his promoter Frank Warren on a conference call to address the perception he priced himself out of the previous talks. “There is not no pricing himself out,” Saunders said before launching into a heartfelt explanation. “To get in there, as fighters we want the most we can get. Sometimes you play a waiting game and sometimes it works and sometimes it don’t. But this time around, the English fans know who he is. They know what he brings, so I’m sure they’ll pay to see it and I’m ready to put it on the line but there’s no pricing myself out because to be honest, I’ll fight any man born. Golovkin is a very good man but he’s just a man.” Warren said he and Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler spoke on Monday during the press conference for Tyson Fury’s rematch with Wladimir Klitschko “and we continue to have dialogue” of a possible fight. Warren referenced the pay channel BoxNation as now having a “pay-per-view platform” as a reason the fight with Golovkin should be able to get made this time because there will be more money in the pot to divvy up. “The money that was offered wasn’t enough,” Warren said of the talks earlier this year. “That’s the other side of it. Just because someone makes an offer — that doesn’t mean it’s the right offer. Bill didn’t want to fight for that and we felt he should get more money, too. But now (Golovkin) has had the exposure in the UK and I think those numbers are now achievable. Bill only became champion last year,” Warren added. “And he had a hand injury in between.” Warren cited the WBA’s decision to order Golovkin to face his mandatory Danny Jacobs, a fight that Warren thinks may happen in November. Warren discussed a possible fight between Golovkin and Saunders for February as a target date. “I’ve told my promoter that I want it,” Saunders said of facing GGG. “I’ve told my manager that I want it. There is absolutely nothing that can get in the way from stopping this. I’ve called him out before. Yes, I’ve put it out there. And now he’s had his fight and I’ve called him out again. There is nothing from stopping this fight on my behalf. I’m ready to fight.” http://www.ring tv.com/464779-saunders-says-money-wont-stand-way-ggg/#.V9gHsGh4eEc.twitter

Comments (11)

No sure how Jacobs manages to avoid GGG next fight up - unless he walks from the belt (what a joke that belt is but he has been using it to sell himself as a world champ). BJS also sounds pretty serious this time. He gets wiped out but I still want to see it. That's a couple of pretty decent fights. In the meantime, Eubank is busy planning his next fight after Langford, maybe a shot at the Southern area title before turning amateur for the next Olympics - yep, things looking pretty bright for him just now.

9y ago

HughJass

Warren should just cancel this crap and put Golovkin-Saunders on in December. GGG is hot ticket in the UK right now, Sky have basically done all the promotion for him. This this and this! Cut the bullsh.it out and get the real deal in.It's more than likely because of the layoff he's had that he's fighting someone who's not got a chance.

9y ago

daggum

whenever a promoter mentions a bunch of names its always the bum in the group that is the opponent. the other names are just to make fans get excited about the fight.

9y ago

Weebler_I

Warren should just cancel this crap and put Golovkin-Saunders on in December. GGG is hot ticket in the UK right now, Sky have basically done all the promotion for him.

9y ago

GMAN_SUPREME

forget billy hoe jacobs is next.

9y ago

PK3434

So you're telling me there's a real chance we can see Jacobs in December, BJS in February, Ramirez in May and Canelo in September? Yeah I know, prior history says at most 1 of those happen :-/ At some point he will have to fight an IBF mandatory (not sure who this is) and a WBC madatory (maybe Taureno Johnson). Also, I'm pretty sure he is scheduled to fight a homecoming fight in Kazakhstan in June. He is a major part of the 2017 international energy convention in Kazakhstan and he has been wearing the logo for it on his clothing for a couple years, already. And Ramirez probably won't even fight again this year because of his injury. The best hope is for Jacobs to happen by the end of this year. I would be cool with that.

9y ago

The_Translator

Reading closely they are saying they won't price themselves out but then they say they expect Golovkin to be able to offer them more now because he has UK exposure. Let's hope the offer is enough to satisfy princess BJ but already seems like it won't be. In the space of a day he has gone from saying he'd fight GGG in November to saying it can't be before Feb.

9y ago

MasterPlan

Probably not Rob Brant, too dangerous. Akavov has 17 fights and 7 KOs so probably him.

9y ago

j0zef

So you're telling me there's a real chance we can see Jacobs in December, BJS in February, Ramirez in May and Canelo in September? Yeah I know, prior history says at most 1 of those happen :-/

9y ago

Kagami_Taiga

Saunders isn't fighting Golovkin. Time to let that **** go.

9y ago

bojangles1987

I know it's too big a dream that Golovkin can get Jacobs, Saunders, and Alvarez all in a row. Especially since slaughtering Jacobs would send all the punks that are licking their chops over the Brook fight running again.

9y ago