Billy Joe Saunders is back talking about boxing before potentially returning to the sport.
The British boxer last entered the ring with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – a loss that saw him leave the arena with multiple fractures in his eye sockets.
Now that he’s recovered and has decided what he wants the rest of his competitive career to look like, the former two-division world champion has time to enjoy the upcoming schedule – one that includes: includes a gripping clash between Conor Benn and his former rival, Chris Eubank Jr.
As with all predictions for this fight, Saunders said the weight (157 lbs limit) and how Eubank handles it will make a difference. He gave his thoughts to DAZN’s Flash Knockdown podcast.
“A lot of people are liking the Eubank for its size, you know the clever thing that Benns did here is obviously put a weight restriction on it. Now it all depends on how he will handle that at 32 [years old]. “
Eubank Jr recently said that he was surprised at how many people in the industry chose Benn to win. As it turns out, Saunders falls into that camp, though Eubank may not be shocked considering their history together.
“I would put it out there as a complete 50/50 fight. If you can give Conor Benn a year of experience and then give him [Eubank Jr] advantage of the weight scenario, I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to say Conor Benn. With the experience Eubank has, he’s been in some big fights, but Conor Benn, you can never take him out and I just have a feeling he’s going to pull something out out of the bag.
I talked to him [Conor], I talked to him for a while, he looks so calm, he wants it badly, and there’s something about this that no one can understand, only them. I believe Conor wants that more.”
A rematch between Saunders and Eubank was discussed not long ago. In their first fight, Billy Joe defeated a decisive victory. He has said that Eubank Jr will never hold a world title, and it seems time has not changed his opinion. He repeats it in a way that only he can do.
“I will uphold that statement as long as my name is Billy Joe Saunders. He’s never going to be world champion as long as he has a hole in his *se because there’s one thing he can’t do – and that’s the box. “
There doesn’t seem to be any love lost between the pair, and certainly the level of hostility needed to build hype around a future fight. Perhaps Saunders’ return could fit into Eubank’s schedule following his grudge match against Benn on October 8.
