As Billy Joe Saunders prepares for his boxing comeback, talk has turned to potential opponents – and he says he has options.
Saunders (30-1) has been out of action since his only career loss at the hands of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. The Mexican, who is now undisputed super middleweight champion, landed an uppercut that left ‘BJS’ with multiple fractures on his eye socket.
Since that May 2021 defeat, the Brit has been out of the game, but rumours of a return have recently been confirmed by the man himself.
He said that he would like to face Liam Smith following his knockout victory over Chris Eubank Jr in January, but another name high up the list comes from across the pond.
Saunders told IFL TV that he has had talks and offers to face the undefeated Demetrius Andrade.
“There’s some big fights out there at super middle. Some big, big names. There’s one fight that will 100% happen – Andrade. Me and him, our teams, have had personal talks over the last couple months trying to get a deal together.
“That fight is there. There’s a lot of money at stake for both of us. We’ve both been offered a lot of money for the fight, and that’s another big fight.”
Andrade is 32 fights deep into his professional career – one which many fans believe hasn’t faced the challenges it should have by this stage.
After holding a the WBO middleweight world title since 2018, ‘Boo Boo’ recently moved up to the 168lb limit to join the likes of Saunders and Canelo. He won his first fight in the division against Demond Nicholson by unanimous decision.
Promotionally, Saunders says that his options are open – the only caveat being he wants to deal with the ‘sensible people’ in the game and avoid the ‘clowns.’
In terms of timeline, the former champion is looking at a comeback fight in September before something bigger at the end of the year. Whether that’s Andrade or not remains to be seen.
“It’s just the rebuild, back on the scene again, show who you are in hopefully September and, in December, a big fight.”
With light training due to begin over the news few weeks, fans are likely to hear more about Saunders’ return soon.