Billy-Joe Saunders bids to become a two-weight world champion when he faces the unheralded Shefat Isufi for the WBO super-middleweight championship at Stevenage FC’s Lamex Stadium.
🎥 | SAUNDERS-ISUFI FACE-OFF 👀@bjsaunders_ and Shefat Isufi face-off at The Lamex, the home of @StevenageFC, ahead of their WBO Interim World super middleweight title bout on May 18th… 👇
Can Saunders become a two-weight champion? 🤔#Boxing#SaundersIsufipic.twitter.com/ais4y2zpdQ
— Boxing Social (@boxing_social) March 25, 2019
Saunders, a native of nearby Hatfield in Herfordshire, was the holder of the WBO middleweight championship before he was forced to relinquish the belt in controversial circumstances when a highly-anticipated Boston showdown with mandatory challenger Demetrius Andrade was scuppered by an adverse chemical finding.
The undefeated southpaw was largely successful at 160lbs; outpointing Andy Lee in December 2015 and defending his crown on three occassions. However, numerous fights, including a proposed unification showdown with Gennady Golovkin to determine the middleweight undisputed champion, ultimately failed to materialise.
Until recently, Saunders enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Brendan Ingle; basing himself out of the vaunted Ingle Gym in Wincobank, Sheffield. Under Ingle, Saunders produced arguably the best performance of his career so far in a dazzling display on away soil against the dangerous David Lemieux in December 2017.
However, after two years, Saunders has elected to reunite with Ben Davison, under whom he made the first successful albeit unconvincing defence of his title against Artur Akavov in Paisley.
Elsewhere on the undercard, having recently inked a deal with Frank Warren and seemingly being fast-tracked towards a world title challenge, heavyweight hopeful Joe Joyce features against seasoned giant Alexander Ustinov.
Light-heavyweight hopefuls Kody Davies and Willie Hutchinson also feature in respective outings, wile Brad Foster and Ashley Lane clash for the British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight titles.
Article by: Navi Singh