Billy Joe Saunders

Billy Joe Saunders
Saunders in 2011
Statistics
Rated at	Middleweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Nationality	British
Born	(1989-08-30) 30 August 1989 Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	24
Wins	24
Wins by KO	12
Losses	0

Billy Joe Saunders (born 30 August 1989) is a British professional boxer. He has held the WBO middleweight title since 2015, having previously held the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles from 2012 to 2015, and the European middleweight title from 2014 to 2015. As an amateur, Saunders represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the second round of the welterweight bracket.

Background

Originally from Cheshunt, Saunders grew up in a Romanichal travelling community near Hatfield, Hertfordshire. His great-grandfather, Absolom Beeney, was one of the community's most famous bare-knuckle boxers.^[1] Billy Joe fought for Cheshunt Amateur Boxing club, overseen by Charlie Bliss, and also at Hoddesdon Amateur Boxing Club.^[2][3][4]

Amateur career

Saunders won his first 49 amateur fights at senior level, including the 2007 Commonwealth Championships^[5] and the 2008 Strandya Cup, edging out Cuban Carlos Banteux.^[6]

In 2008 Saunders qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the welterweight division at the age of 18.^[7] At the European area qualifier in Pescara, Italy he beat European champion Andrey Balanov and Kakhaber Zhvania, but lost in the semi-final to Oleksandr Stretskyy before beating Pavol Hlavačka for the all-important third spot.^[8] to become the first person from the British Romanichal community to qualify for the games.^[9]

In Beijing he beat Adem Kılıççı in the first round but lost to old foe Carlos Banteux in the second. He was subsequently suspended for "lewd behaviour", allegedly pertaining to an incident with a local woman during a pre-season training camp in France.^[10] In early December 2008, Saunders turned professional and signed with promoter Frank Warren.

Professional career

Saunders (right) vs. Gary Boulden, 2011

Early career

Saunders made his professional debut on 28 February 2009 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, against Attila Molnar. Saunders looked confident from the opening bell, landing hard combinations which quickly overwhelmed Molnar. In round two, a series of punches that landed flush on Molnar's chin caused the referee to stop the fight and save a dazed Molnar. Saunders won his second fight by second-round stoppage of Ronny Gabel and his third fight, also by second round stoppage, of Matt Scriven. On 9 October 2009, he went four full rounds to outpoint Alex Spitko. On 21 May 2011, he scored an impressive second-round knockout victory over Kevin Hammond.^[11] Saunders went on to score wins against Norbert Szekeres, Gary Boulden and Tony Hill, the last of these giving him his seventh professional knockout victory and his first major regional title, the Commonwealth middleweight championship, on 28 April 2012.^[12] For his first defence of the title, on 1 June, Saunders went the full twelve-round distance (also a first) against veteran Bradley Pryce, outpointing him comfortably. A then-undefeated Jarrod Fletcher was quickly dispatched in two rounds on 14 September.

Saunders vs. Blackwell, Hall, O'Sullivan, Ryder

On 15 December, Saunders fought Nick Blackwell for the vacant British middleweight title. This turned out to be one of Saunders' first tough outings, as he was forced to go the full twelve rounds en route to a competitive unanimous decision victory on the judges' scorecards.^[13] A pair of trouble-free fights came next, against tough slugger Matthew Hall on 21 March 2013 and Gary O'Sullivan on 20 July, both of which also lasted twelve full rounds. 2013 concluded for Saunders with another tough fight on 21 September, this time against fellow British prospect John Ryder in defence of both the Commonwealth and British middleweight titles. Both fighters came in undefeated and fought for twelve competitive rounds, with very close scorecards all favouring Saunders.^[13]

European middleweight title

Saunders vs. Blandamura, Eubank Jr.

It would be almost another year until Saunders had his next fight. On 26 July 2014 he added to his title collection with an eighth-round knockout of Emanuele Blandamura, earning him the European middleweight title.^[14] Immediately after the Blandamura fight, Saunders called out another undefeated British prospect and archrival Chris Eubank Jr.^[15] Prolonged negotiations ensued between Frank Warren and Eubank, Jr.'s team (led by his father Chris Eubank Sr.), with the highly anticipated fight eventually signed in October^[16] and taking place on 29 November. All three of Saunders' titles were on the line, as well as being an eliminator for the WBO world middleweight title. The rivalry and build-up was likened to the first fight between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank in 1990.^[17] Saunders went on to defeat Eubank, Jr. via split decision; two judges had scores of 115–114 and 115–113 for Saunders, with the third judge scoring 116–113 for Eubank, Jr. Having secured his third defence of the British middleweight title, Saunders earned the Lonsdale Belt outright; he gave this to his father Tommy as a Christmas present.^[18]

WBO middleweight title

Saunders vs. Lee

With the win over Eubank, Jr., Saunders was in line for an opportunity to fight WBO world middleweight champion Andy Lee. In February 2015, Saunders and Warren accepted a 'step-aside' financial offer from promoter Lou DiBella in order for Lee to face Peter Quillin instead.^[19][20] Warren said that he hoped for Lee to win that fight so that Saunders vs. Lee could be staged in the summer. At around the same time, due to his high ranking, Saunders also received an offer from the IBF to fight for their vacant world middleweight title, but he reiterated his intention to follow the WBO route.^[21] In June, Saunders vs. Lee was officially announced for the WBO world middleweight title.^[22] The fight was initially scheduled to take place in Lee's hometown of Limerick on 19 September, but was postponed and moved to Manchester on 10 October due to Lee suffering from a viral infection.^[23] On 1 September, yet another postponement arose due to Saunders receiving a cut in sparring.^[24] The fight was subsequently rescheduled for 19 December.^[25]

On 24 July, Saunders took a tune-up fight—weighing in at 173 pounds (78 kg), near the light-heavyweight limit—and stopped Yoann Bloyer in four rounds.^[26] On 19 December, Saunders defeated WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee via majority decision to capture his first world title, with judges' scores of 115–111, 114–112 and 113–113. In the third round, Saunders scored two knockdowns against Lee to build up an early lead on the scorecards. He then continued to outbox Lee using head movement and an accurate jab until the later rounds. At this point, Lee began to land more frequently with heavy punches of his own, but was too late to overcome the points deficit despite a strong finish in the final round.^[27]

Cancelled defences

Saunders' first defence of the title was scheduled for 30 April 2016, against Max Bursak at the Copper Box in London. However, Saunders was forced to pull out due to a hand injury sustained in training. "I'm bitterly disappointed. This is boxing and these things happen", he said at the time.^[28]

On 8 July, Saunders revealed that he would be fighting on 17 September, likely on the undercard of Canelo Álvarez vs. Liam Smith at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which would have been broadcast on HBO pay-per-view in the US. It was rumoured that this would set up a WBO middleweight title defence against Álvarez in December.^[29] However, Golden Boy Promotions vice president Eric Gomez told ESPN on 14 August that Saunders would no longer feature on the undercard due to him rejecting all of the opponents presented to him. Opponents supposedly brought forward by Golden Boy were Gabriel Rosado, Curtis Stevens, and Willie Monroe Jr.^[30]

Saunders vs. Akavov

Frank Warren finally confirmed Saunders first title defence would be against WBO European middleweight champion Artur Akavov (16-1 7 KOs), ranked by the WBO at number 10. The fight was due to take place at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on October 22 live on BoxNation.^[31] The fight card was postponed to November 26 after Saunders suffered a muscle injury, along with his stablemate Liam Williams also suffering an injury during a sparring session.^[32] The fight was postponed again to December 3 due to transitional issues with Akavov getting into the UK, the fight then took place at Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Scotland.^[33] Saunders started off slow, showing signs of ring rust. Up until round 5, Akavov was the aggressor and doing enough to take the rounds. In rounds 5, 6, 7 and 8, Saunders bounced back and hit combos landing power shots in the process. This seemed to have tired Saunders out for the last two rounds. The fight went the full 12 rounds. Saunders won on all scorecards claiming a unanimous decision to retain his WBO title. The three judges called it 116-113, 116-112 and 115-113 in favor of Saunders. Immediately following the announcement, Saunders took the microphone off the MC and thanked the live crowd for coming and and harshly criticized himself on his performance, “There was nothing there. I’ve been out a year, a bit overweight. A few adjustments to camp. Just flat, really, really flat,” Saunders lamented afterwards. “I’d like to apologise to the fans, especially who paid for it. Terrible performance.”^[34][35][36]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
24	Win	24–0	Artur Akavov	UD	12	3 Dec 2016	Lagoon Leisure Centre, Glasgow, Scotland	Retained WBO middleweight title
23	Win	23–0	Andy Lee	MD	12	19 Dec 2015	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England	Won WBO middleweight title
22	Win	22–0	Yoann Bloyer	TKO	4 (12), 0:53	24 Jul 2015	Wembley Arena, London, England
21	Win	21–0	Chris Eubank Jr.	SD	12	29 Nov 2014	ExCeL, London, England	Retained European, British, and Commonwealth middleweight titles
20	Win	20–0	Emanuele Blandamura	KO	8 (12), 2:58	26 Jul 2014	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England	Won vacant European middleweight title
19	Win	19–0	John Ryder	UD	12	21 Sep 2013	Copper Box, London, England	Retained British and Commonwealth middleweight titles
18	Win	18–0	Gary O'Sullivan	UD	12	20 Jul 2013	Wembley Arena, London, England	Won WBO International middleweight title
17	Win	17–0	Matthew Hall	UD	12	21 Mar 2013	York Hall, London, England	Retained British and Commonwealth middleweight titles
16	Win	16–0	Nick Blackwell	UD	12	15 Dec 2012	ExCeL, London, England	Retained Commonwealth middleweight title; Won vacant British middleweight title
15	Win	15–0	Jarrod Fletcher	TKO	2 (12), 2:42	14 Sep 2012	York Hall, London, England	Retained Commonwealth middleweight title
14	Win	14–0	Bradley Pryce	UD	12	1 Jun 2012	York Hall, London, England	Retained Commonwealth middleweight title
13	Win	13–0	Tony Hill	TKO	1 (10), 0:30	28 Apr 2012	Royal Albert Hall, London, England	Won vacant Commonwealth middleweight title
12	Win	12–0	Tommy Tolan	TKO	1 (8), 1:07	14 Dec 2011	York Hall, London, England
11	Win	11–0	Gary Boulden	PTS	10	5 Nov 2011	Wembley Arena, London, England	Won British Southern Area middleweight title
10	Win	10–0	Norbert Szekeres	TKO	1 (8), 2:51	15 Oct 2011	Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
9	Win	9–0	Kevin Hammond	TKO	2 (8), 3:00	21 May 2011	The O2 Arena, London, England
8	Win	8–0	Turgay Uzun	RTD	2 (8), 3:00	2 Apr 2011	York Hall, London, England
7	Win	7–0	Tony Randell	TKO	2 (6), 0:39	11 Dec 2010	Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
6	Win	6–0	Andy Butlin	PTS	6	15 May 2010	Boleyn Ground, London, England
5	Win	5–0	Lee Noble	PTS	6	5 Dec 2009	Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
4	Win	4–0	Alex Spitko	PTS	4	9 Oct 2009	York Hall, London, England
3	Win	3–0	Matt Scriven	TKO	2 (4), 1:21	18 Jul 2009	MEN Arena, Manchester, England
2	Win	2–0	Ronny Gabel	TKO	2 (4), 1:16	15 May 2009	Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
1	Win	1–0	Attila Molnar	TKO	2 (4), 1:47	28 Feb 2009	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Billy Joe Saunders from BoxRec
• Billy Joe Saunders on Time's list of "100 Olympic Athletes to Watch"