Billy Joe Saunders will make the second defence of his WBO super-middleweight title against Martin Murray at The SSE Arena, Wembley on Friday December 4, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Hatfield’s Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) became a two-weight champion with a shutout points win over Shefat Isufi in May 2019 to add the WBO super-middleweight crown to his collection.
The former middleweight ruler was on the verge of securing a mega fight with Mexican pound-for-pound star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez earlier this year before the coronavirus pandemic turned the sporting world on its head and scuppered their May date.
“I am very happy to be defending my WBO world title again,” said Saunders. “I haven’t boxed for a year and I really do miss being in the ring. I can’t wait to have my 30th professional fight and finish the year with a bang before a big 2021.
“The coronavirus pandemic has affected everybody in many ways, and it has had a big impact on the sport of boxing. The Canelo Alvarez fight falling through was very frustrating for me but now the journey continues in December.
“Martin and I were supposed to fight twice before but it didn’t happen either time. He said some stuff and so did I, so let’s see who can back it up. I’m enjoying training with Mark Tibbs. He’s incredibly knowledgeable in the sport of boxing and we are working on new stuff that we will show on the night.”
“I’m really looking forward to getting back in there and fighting for another world title,” said Murray. “The big fights definitely bring out the best in me. This year has been a good year for me personally. It seemed like all the stresses of life were taken away so I really enjoyed being able to relax a bit more and spend even more time with my family.
“There was no bad blood really between me and Billy to be honest, it was just a lot of frustration after he pulled out twice. That got left where it was, but we’ve definitely got some unfinished business. I’m expecting a hard fight and Billy Joe to be at his best, so I’ll be ready.”