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Billy Joe Saunders is an English professional boxer from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire who grew up in a Romanichal travelling community near Hatfield. His great-grandfather, Absolom Beeney, was one of the community's most famous bare-knuckle boxers and Billy is the first fighter from the travelling community to win world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title which he held between 2015 and 2018, as well as the WBO super-middleweight title, from 2019 to 2021. At regional level, Saunders held the European, British, and Commonwealth middleweight titles between 2012 and 2015. In 2021, he was ranked as the world's 3rd-best active super-middleweight boxer by BoxRec, and 4th by The Ring magazine. On 19 December 2015, Saunders made history by competing in the first world title fight contested between two gypsies along with his opponent, Andy Lee. Saunders won the bout by majority decision to become the WBO world middleweight champion.
During a successful amateur career, fighting for Cheshunt Amateur Boxing Club and Hoddesdon Amateur Boxing Club, Saunders won his first 49 amateur fights at senior level, including the 2007 Commonwealth Championships and the 2008 Strandzha Cup. In 2008, Saunders qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the welterweight division at the age of 18. Representing Team Great Britain at the Games, he reached the 2nd round of the welterweight bracket, while in the same year, he also won gold at the EU Championships.
In December 2008, Saunders turned professional and made his debut on 28 February 2009 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham as he defeated Attila Molnar. He won the bout, as well as his next two fights, by 2nd-round stoppage. On 9 October 2009, he went four full rounds to outpoint Alex Spitko. On 21 May 2011, he scored an impressive 2nd-round knockout victory over Kevin Hammond. Saunders went on to score wins against Norbert Szekeres, Gary Boulden and Tony Hill, the last of these giving him his 7th professional KO victory and his 1st major regional title - the Commonwealth middleweight championship. For his first defence of the title on 1 June 2012, Saunders went the full 12-round distance against veteran Bradley Pryce, outpointing him comfortably, followed by quickly dispatching the undefeated Jarrod Fletcher in two rounds on 14 September.
On 15 December, Saunders fought Nick Blackwell for the vacant British middleweight title which turned out to be one of his first tough outings en route to a unanimous decision victory. A pair of trouble-free fights came next, against tough slugger Matthew Hall on 21 March 2013 and Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan on 20 July, both of which also lasted twelve full rounds. 2013 concluded for Saunders with another tough fight on 21 September, this time against fellow British prospect, John Ryder, in defence of his Commonwealth and British middleweight titles. Both fighters came in undefeated and fought for twelve competitive rounds, with very close scorecards all favouring Saunders.
On 26 July 2014 he added to his title collection with an 8th-round knockout of Emanuele Blandamura, earning him the European middleweight title. Immediately after the Blandamura fight, Saunders called out undefeated British prospect and arch-rival, Chris Eubank Jr.. Prolonged negotiations ensued between Billy Joe's promoter, Frank Warren, and Eubank's team (led by his father Chris Eubank Sr.) with the highly anticipated fight eventually signed to take place on 29 November. The bitter rivalry and build-up between Saunders and Eubank Jr. was likened to the first fight between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank back in 1990. All three of Saunders' titles were on the line, as well as being a final eliminator for the WBO world middleweight title as Saunders went on to defeat Eubank via split decision. Having secured his third defence of the British middleweight title, Saunders earned the Lonsdale Belt outright which he gave this to his father, Tommy, as a Christmas present.
With the win over Eubank, Saunders was in line for an opportunity to fight WBO champion, Andy Lee. In February 2015, Saunders and Warren accepted a 'step-aside' financial offer from promoter Lou DiBella in order for Lee to face Peter Quillin instead. Due to his high ranking, Saunders also received an offer from the IBF to fight for their vacant world middleweight title, but he reiterated his intention to follow the WBO route and in June, Saunders vs. Lee was officially announced. The fight was initially scheduled to take place in Lee's hometown of Limerick on 19 September, but was postponed and moved to Manchester on 10 October due to Lee suffering from a viral infection. On 1 September, yet another postponement arose due to Saunders receiving a cut in sparring and the fight was subsequently rescheduled for 19 December. On 24 July, Saunders took a tune-up fight, weighing in at 173 pounds, near the light-heavyweight limit, and stopped Yoann Bloyer in four rounds. On 19 December, Saunders defeated Andy Lee via majority decision to capture his first world title in a hard fought bout.
Frank Warren confirmed Saunders' first title defence would be against WBO European middleweight champion, Artur Akavov. The fight took place at Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire live on BoxNation Boxing (2011). The fight went the full 12 rounds, with Saunders claiming a unanimous decision victory. Immediately following the announcement, Saunders took the microphone off the MC and thanked the live crowd for coming and harshly criticized himself on his performance, "There was nothing there. I've been out a year, a bit overweight. A few adjustments to camp. Just flat, really, really flat. I'd like to apologise to the fans, especially who paid for it. Terrible performance."
On 20 December, it was announced that Saunders had parted with long time trainer, Jimmy Tibbs, who he had been mentored by since turning professional in 2008. Rumours had started when Tibbs was not present at Saunders last title defence against Akavov, instead he had Danny Vaughan, Johnney Roye and Ben Davison in his corner. Promoter Frank Warren officially confirmed the news, and in January 2017, Saunders announced he would be working with a new trainer, Adam Booth, however on 28 June, it was revealed that they had parted ways, after working together for only six months. Billy Joe then linked up with Sheffield-based trainer, Dominic Ingle. Saunders claimed that the reason for the split with Booth was due to being 'too close to home' and ongoing distractions.
Warren announced on 6 July, that a deal was in place for Saunders to defend his title against former world title challenger Willie Monroe Jr., was coming off a unanimous decision win against Gabe Rosado. Throughout the pre-fight promotion, Saunders had tried to get the better of Monroe. This continued right through to the official weigh-in one day before the fight. As Saunders stood on the scales, his 7-year-old son, Stevie Saunders, also took to the stage. Monroe patted Stevie on the head, to which he reacted by punching and kicking Monroe to the groin. Monroe later reacted stating that he intended to sue unless he was compensated. Saunders defeated Monroe via unanimous decision, controlling the fight throughout. In the post-fight interview, Saunders thanked Monroe for coming over to the UK for the fight, while his son apologised for hitting him.
After weeks of going back-and-forth with former IBF champion David Lemieux on social media, the WBO ordered them to meet in a mandatory fight to take place at the new Place Bell in Laval, Quebec. Saunders deployed a strategic game-plan which worked out emphatically and exquisitely retaining his WBO title for the third time. Both HBO and ESPN scored it a clear 120-108 for Saunders, as the difference in hand speed and skills were vast. Saunders earned a minimum $1 million purse, while Lemieux took home a $500,000 guaranteed purse. The fight marked Saunders' first appearance on HBO, and averaged 716,000 viewers, peaking at 775,000 viewers.
On 20 June 2018, it was reported that Saunders would fight in September. On 12 July, the WBO ordered Saunders to make a mandatory defence against former two-time light-middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade, with both sides having 10 days to reach a deal. On 13 July, it was reported that Andrade would be unveiled as one of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing USA signings with a deal that would see him fighting on DAZN Boxing. On 25 July, the purse bid, which was scheduled for the evening, was cancelled after it was revealed that Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren had reached a deal for the fight to take place in USA under the Matchroom USA banner on DAZN. It was said that representatives of Top Rank were scheduled to be present at the purse bid to try and secure the fight for ESPN+. With Matchroom USA having promotional rights on the fight, Warren confirmed the fight would take place on Sky Sports World Championship Boxing in the UK and not BT Sport.
On 27 September, ESPN's Dan Rafael first reported that Saunders had tested positive for oxilofrine, known as a stimulant. The test was carried out by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) on 30 August. Hearn stated he would wait to see if the Massachusetts commission will allow Saunders to fight, however confirmed Andrade would still appear in the main event, whether it be a vacant world title or a non-title bout. Warren claimed the positive test was due to a nasal spray and was permitted by UKAD., while the BBBofC also stated Saunders was not in breach of their regulations. At a hearing, the MSAC denied Saunders a license, meaning he could not defend his title against Andrade. According to reports, the cancellation meant Saunders team would be losing around $2.3 million. WBO president, Paco Valcarcel told ESPN, Saunders would not be stripped immediately as he would likely appeal, and Andrade's fight against Namibian boxer Walter Kautondokwa would be for the vacant WBO interim title. On 11 October 2018, it was announced that Saunders had vacated the WBO middleweight title in anticipation of being stripped.
On 12 December 2018, promoter Warren announced that Saunders would return to the ring on 22 December at the Manchester Arena on the Josh Warrington vs. Carl Frampton IBF featherweight championship undercard against Hungarian boxer Zoltan Sera. Sera was replaced days before the fight. Saunders' new opponent was revealed to be 41-year-old Charles Adamu from Ghana. Saunders won the fight after Adamu failed to come out from his corner after round 4.
On 25 March, Saunders vs. Isufi was announced to take place for the interim WBO super-middleweight title on 18 May at the Lamex Stadium in Stevenage. On the same day, Saunders confirmed he had left Dominic Ingle and he would be training with Ben Davison full-time. Saunders also advised if he is victorious, he would likely challenge Ramírez for the full title in late-2019, however, if Ramírez opted to remain at light-heavyweight, the winner of Saunders vs. Isufi would become full champion. On 13 May, Ramírez officially vacated the WBO title, making Saunders vs. Isufi for the full world title. Coming into the bout, Isufi was on a 10-fight winning streak, but Saunders won the fight by a landslide unanimous decision, winning the WBO super-middleweight title and becoming a two weight world champion.
In October 2019, it was confirmed that Saunders would make the first defence of his WBO super-middleweight title on the KSI vs. Logan Paul II undercard against Marcelo Esteban Coceres. Coceres gave Saunders a tough fight through the first ten rounds, but in the 11th, Saunders knocked Coceres down three times, prompting referee Ray Corona to stop the fight. On 4 December 2020, Saunders returned to the ring after more than a year out to make the 2nd defence of his WBO title against Martin Murray at the SSE Arena in London. Saunders dominated his opponent with a convincing unanimous decision victory.
On 28 February 2020, Canelo Álvarez's trainer Eddy Reynoso confirmed Saunders as the next opponent for the Mexican. Both undefeated super-middleweight champions, Saunders and Callum Smith, had both turned down offers to fight Álvarez, hoping to bargain for a better purse to face the pound-for-pound star. The fight was set to mark DAZN's global launch in Latin America, the UK, and 189 other countries after previously being launched in just nine countries. The bout was postponed due to the spread of the Coronavirus disease, while Canelo's team floated the possibility of a Golovkin trilogy late in 2020 that might conflict with the Saunders fight. After Álvarez's successful title defence against Avni Yildrim on 27 February 2021, Eddie Hearn--the promoter of both Saunders and Álvarez--confirmed a unification bout on 8 May 2021 for Saunders' WBO title and Álvarez's WBA Super, WBC and The Ring titles.
With 73,126 fans in attendance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a record amount for an indoor boxing event in the US, Saunders was hit with an uppercut towards the end of the 8th round, causing immediate swelling to his right eye. Saunders had boxed well to this point, generally being able to avoid Canelo's bigger shots but while sat on his stool at the end of the round, he informed his lead trainer, Mark Tibbs, that he could not see, prompting Tibbs to call a halt to the contest and handing Billy Joe the first defeat of his career. Hearn revealed after the fight that Saunders had suffered multiple fractures to his eye socket and was awaiting surgery.
To date, Saunders' professional record is 30 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss.
