Why would Billy Joe Saunders require Andrade to vacate his belt?
In his last outing, WBO world super middleweight champion “Superb” Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KO’s) had a rather easy night in the office. On that December 4 date, Saunders clearly outclassed Martin Murray (39-6-1, 17 KO’s) en route to a unanimous decision victory. Naturally, the boxing public became curious to see who Superb would fight next.
While there is no disputing the fact that Saunders is talented, many still question his level of opposition. When reviewing his professional resume, it is hard to find any fighters who have made serious noise at the top level of competition. There is David Lemieux (42-4, 35 KO’s) who was an IBF middleweight champion for four months before IBF and IBO world middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KO’s) took his strap.
Outside of Lemieux, the most dazzling names on his ledger are Andy Lee, Gary O’Sullivan and John Ryder. Sure, these men have put on entertaining prizefights, but none would be viewed as the cream of the crop. Perhaps this is exactly why the WBO chose to step in. The sanctioning body has required that Saunders make a fight with WBO world middleweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (29-0, 18 KO’s), WBA super world middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KO’s) or his mandatory.
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Canelo is already lined up to face WBA super world super middleweight champion Callum “Mundo” Smith (27-0, 19 KO’s). So, that bout is essentially a pipedream. Luckily, Superb has shown some interest in fighting Andrade. They have been scheduled to fight two previous times. However, both would-be fights were undone by Saunders. So, perhaps three attempts will prove to be a charm. Unfortunately, it could be thought that he is already angling for a way to avoid the fight.
Knowing that he was one of Saunders few options, Boo Boo took the opportunity to troll him a bit on Twitter. In response, Superb let it be known that he would be willing to face Andrade. However, in his retort, Saunders appeared to be making it a requirement that Andrade vacate his belt. This is very strange. If Superb earnestly wanted to collide with Andrade, the middleweight title has nothing to do with anything.
When Canelo moved up to face Sergey Kovalev at light heavyweight, he did not have to vacate his middleweight title. When Leo Santa Cruz (37-2-1, 19 KO’s) moved up to fight WBA super world super featherweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (24-0, 23 KO’s), he did not vacate his featherweight title. In fact, the sport is littered with examples of champions fighting outside of their weight class without being mandated to relinquish their title. So, for many enthusiasts, this sounds like a blatant ploy to discourage Andrade from pursuing a fight.
ADDICTED TO GOOFINESS
Andrade has already been burned by Saunders twice. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that he will give up his belt on faith that Superb does the right thing this time. Outside of trying to scare Andrade away from a potential showdown, it does not make much sense why this stipulation was suggested. Self-sabotage is something that Saunders certainly excels at, so Superb derailing a good potential fight is right up his alley.
Along with blowing up two bouts with Andrade, Saunders also squandered a previous opportunity to fight Canelo. In that instance, he claimed he did not have enough time to prepare. Hell, Saunders pulled out of two previous bouts with Martin Murray before they finally traded leather. When he is not destroying high profile fights, Saunders is also a savant at mangling his public image.
Superb nearly instigated a brawl with Deontay Wilder and his entourage in a restaurant back in 2018. A few weeks later, he was back in the news. This time, he filmed himself tricking a drug-addicted woman to hit a random passerby for a joke. Earlier this year, he went viral for making a tongue-in-cheek instructional guide for how to properly beat your girlfriend or wife.
All said to say, Saunders excels at crippling his own career for no good reason at all. Therefore, it would be no surprise whatsoever if Superb sank yet another prime prizefight with Andrade just for the hell of it.
By: Bakari Simpson
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