Billy Joe Saunders made headlines after his successful defence against Willie Monroe Jr a couple of weeks ago.
The current WBO World middleweight champion called out Amir Khan after his win during the post fight press conference.
“There’s some big names out there. Khan’s boxed before at 160, I’d love the Amir Khan fight, what a fight that would be,” Saunders said. “He’s a very good name – I rate him – I’ve watched him for years, I know him and Kell Brook haven’t got it on, but if Khan’s looking for a big UK fight then I want to fight him,” said Saunders.
Fellow middleweight fighter Danny Jacobs wasn’t too impressed with the call out.
Jacobs, who last fought Gennady Golovkin back in March and is schedulled to face Luis Arias in November, has been trying to get a fight against Saunders for quite some time now. Saunders might be trying to steer away from Jacobs but the former WBA champion wants to keep the focus on Billy Joe.
“It’s kind of hard to respect a guy like that. So when you say his name, I just consciously feel like that… because he’s holding on to that belt and trying to milk it for as much as he can – but a true champion will fight the best,” said Jacobs after hearing about the Amir Khan call out according to boxingscene.com.
The biggest issue for Jacobs regarding the call out? The weight.
“I get that he wants to try to make as much as he can before he fights some stern competition, I get it. But Amir Khan? He fought how many years ago? I think a year and a half ago. And he lost by knockout, and [Saunders is] calling him out.
Jacobs says that it’s hard for him to respect Saunders because he is calling out a welterweight.
“And he’s[Khan] a welterweight. This guy is the middleweight champion. You are the middleweight champion, how could you play yourself and call out a welterweight. I don’t respect it,” he summarised.
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