Everyone knows that the UK is exactly the country where boxing originated. Of course, it would be surprising if in this state today it was impossible to find the current world champion in any weight category. One of these fighters is Billy Joe Saunders. We will talk about him in the article.
brief information
The current holder of the middleweight champion belt was born on August 30, 1989 in the English town of Wellin Garden City, Hertfordshire. The growth of a fighter is 180 centimeters, and the weight ranges from 70-72 kilograms. To date, the boxer has held 24 fights, won in all, and at 12 he was able to knock out his opponents.
Lovers Career
Our hero loved boxing since childhood. Billy Joe Saunders was highly successful at the amateur level. He won his first 49 fights in amateur games, which allowed him to become the champion of the Commonwealth in 2007 and 2008, as well as to win the Strandzh Cup, having defeated the representative of Cuba Carlos Banteks in the final fight.
In 2008, Billy Joe Saunders took part in the qualifying tournament for the right to fight in the end at the Olympics. Then he performed in the category of up to 69 kilograms. The British managed to defeat the Russian Balanova and the guest from Georgia Zhvania. However, in the semifinal match, he lost to Alexander Stretzky.
At the Olympics themselves, Billy was able to get through only the first round, and in the second round with a bang he lost to the already known Carlos Bantex with a score of 6:13.
Transition to Professionals
The first fight by professional rules, Billy Joe Saunders held in early 2009 in his homeland. Frank Warren, well-known in the boxing world, became his promoter.
The British won his first title in the pro in the eleventh fight, defeating fellow countryman Boulden and receiving the Southern Area belt according to BBBofC.
In June 2012, Billy successfully defended his belt against the claims of Bradley Price by winning against him by unanimous refereeing.
In the period 2013-2014, the Briton had interesting and vibrant fights. Billy Joe Saunders in all of them defeated boxers who did not have defeats before meeting with him.
Saunders became the European champion in July 2014, when in the sixth three-minute he knocked out the Italian Blandamura.
In November 2014, Billy won another significant victory for himself. This time, his compatriot Chris Eubank Jr. was defeated. The battle itself turned out to be very viscous and rather dirty, and Saunders won by a separate decision. This victory gave our hero an opportunity to fight for two belts at once - WBO and IBF. Billy decided to fight for the WBO title, although he had to wait a bit with the champion match.
On the top
The battle for the world crown took place on December 13, 2015. Initially, the fight was supposed to take place in the summer, but twice the date changed. The confrontation between Saunders and then-current champion Andy Lee ended in a judicial decision in which the majority of the votes were cast to the Briton (one judge gave a draw).
December 3, 2016 Billy held the first voluntary defense of his belt. He was opposed by the Russian Arthur Akavov. The fight was not too bright and almost equal, as evidenced by the score of the referee's notes, where the gap between the winner and the loser did not exceed three points. Saunders defended the title, but the battle showed that he was still very far from perfect and could easily lose if he did not improve his skills.
It is noteworthy that the obligatory contender for the belt belonging to Saunders is the Georgian boxer Avtandil Khurtsidze, who claims that the Briton avoids the fight with him and completely neglects the champion's responsibilities in the issue of mandatory defense. The Georgian agent claims that he wants to force the WBO leadership to force Billy to hold a match with Avtandil.