A former super-middleweight world champion is planning to make his long-awaited comeback.
Billy Joe Saunders hasn’t been in action for over three years, not competing since suffering a defeat to Canelo Alvarez back in May 2021.
That was the first time that Saunders had tasted defeat, having gone unbeaten prior to that with wins over the likes of Chris Eubank Jr, Andy Lee, David Lemieux and Martin Murray.
His current record stands at 30-1, but as time continued to pass, some fans believed it may have been the last time they have seen Saunders inside a ring.
The former WBO champion insists that isn’t the case, as he explained to IFL TV that he still regards himself as the best and will definitely return at some stage.
“I really, really, miss boxing I really want to be part of it. I’ll still be the baddest super-middleweight in my opinion, definitely in Britain and Europe.”
He also revealed that a rematch with Eubank has previously been discussed, a decade on from their first meeting in November 2014 where Saunders won by split decision while he was the British, European and Commonwealth champion.
“We were in strong talks with the Eubank’s team. We were more or less where we needed to be. The only thing stopping things from progressing was the warm-up fight, you can’t expect me to be out the ring three years and just jump into a big fight because of money. I’m not too bothered if I get forgot about or a promoter offers something. We’ll see where it goes.
“They [Eubank’s team] offered me a lot of money, fair play to them and talks haven’t really broken up so there is still something there, I just need a plan in front of me to move forward.”
While Saunders vs. Eubank doesn’t seem to be the next move, a fight between Eubank and fellow Brit Conor Benn looks more likely, and former world champion Amir Khan has given his prediction for that clash.
