The Golden Ticket

A victory over Monroe is Saunders’ key to securing a fight with the Golovkin- Canelo winner.

- Paul Wheeler

THE identity of the number one middleweight in the world will be revealed this Saturday (September 16) in Las Vegas, when WBC, WBA and IBF champion Gennady Golovkin collides with Canelo Alvarez in the best fight the sport of boxing has to offer.

Across the Atlantic in London on the same night, we will also discover the likeliest next opponent for the Golovkin-Canelo winner, when Billy Joe Saunders defends his WBO belt against Willie Monroe Jnr in an all-southpaw clash inside Stratford’s Copper Box Arena. Queensberry Promotions stage this event, which will be televised live in the UK on both BT Sport 1 and BoxNation.

The last 20 months have been forgettable ones for Saunders, 24-0 (12). However, prior to this unproductive period, he seemed to have the world at his feet. After outpointing respected domestic rivals in Nick Blackwell, John Ryder and Chris Eubank Jnr – as well as collecting British, Commonwealth and European honours – Billy Joe received a crack at Andy Lee’s WBO crown in December 2015. The Hatfield man did not disappoint, decking Lee twice en route to a majority verdict victory.

Since his world title win, Saunders has been plagued by a variety of issues, including injuries, inactivity, changes to his training team, and an extremely laboured performance in his only appearance during this time. That came in December last year, when he struggled to a unanimous decision over the unheralded Artur Akavov. Members of Billy Joe’s management team – MTK Global – were in his corner for the Akavov contest, following his split with long-time trainer, Jimmy Tibbs.