Billy Joe Saunders - Stepping up to 168 ?? A spanner in the works ??

Love this guy...............Compact, skillful and apparently Warren and him are enthusiastic about a move to 168 where all the action is......Warren especially as that is where the gold lies over the rainbow..

On a skill level I have him higher than Groves, Degale and the overrated Fielding.........

HOWEVER...........Can he handle the extra 8 pounds..............Are pound signs overriding common sense............

Know one thing though.................

Saunders- Groves.................Degale v Saunders...........Smith/Fielding v Saunders..................Are bouts I'd love to see......

For a kid though who seems to make middle it's a gamble................But considering..............GGG, Martinez are tied up....and Sturm has three other Brits after him............Maybe the money and opportunity lies at 168.....I imagine GGG will unify in the next year also.

Sure as well Ward will move to 175 eventually and Froch is on the wane.................

Food for thought...............

Saunders could be the Ace in the pack.................The spanner in the works.................Can Warren deliver though ??

I rate him as our best middle Truss , I do worry about the lack of snap in his punches, rumours are he has dished degale a couple of hidings in sparring, id prefer him to stick at middle but won't be an easy night work for anyone.

Cheers Rodders

I know the Captain speaks highly of him too Mate...I've always been impressed.....

I agree with you he belongs at middle and he's our best middle...........But him and Warren see Groves, Degale, Froch and bucks ...........Murray, Lee, Macklin aren't as marketable..

cheers..

Don't see why he can't step into the void left by Darren Barker. Andy Lee isn't, for me, in the same bracket as either Macklin or Murray and a fight with Saunders might just leap frog him into contention.

I'm sure Saunders will be put in with some Euro SM stiff to try and sell him as a viable operator at 168 but there's the danger that they end up with another Nathan Cleverley.

Can't argue with that.........

Warren wants Degale apparently...............

A tricky southpaw at 168 might not be the greatest idea for him.........

Maybe warren thinks 160 is too flooded with un-marketable Brits........He wouldn't be wrong I guess.

Hmm this move wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to me, Billy Joe is a classy operator but he is a small middleweight and doesn't have a lot of power

He always come in with a fleshy figure so the extra 8lbs won't do him good imo

Either way he's a classy fighter with lots of potential so he should acquit himself well enough

WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs wrote:Hmm this move wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to me, Billy Joe is a classy operator but he is a small middleweight and doesn't have a lot of power

He always come in with a fleshy figure so the extra 8lbs won't do him good imo

Either way he's a classy fighter with lots of potential so he should acquit himself well enough

Can't argue with that either.........160 may be tough for Warren at the moment...........Sturm camp seem to be close to HEARN..........Who has three Brits to chuck at him............Sturm also has Geale to fight again.....................Martinez would want big money to fight here..........and GGG looks set to dominate 160..maybe even unify !!........which leaves Quillin.............

I don't know........won't be disappointed to see him go to 168...........though.

I think it would be a mistake for Billy to move up. He has no real pop at 160 and is not massive at the weight. If Degale snags a World Title, and Warren does a deal to have Degale fight on Boxnation (as he has with Tyson Fury), then I think it makes sense. That said, Saunders isn't ready for a title shot and I have seen little from Degale of late that makes me confident he would beat Bika. He could, but Bika is a rought, tough,mean barsteward.

Saunders should stay at Middle and look to establish himself there.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs wrote:Hmm this move wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to me, Billy Joe is a classy operator but he is a small middleweight and doesn't have a lot of power

He always come in with a fleshy figure so the extra 8lbs won't do him good imo

Either way he's a classy fighter with lots of potential so he should acquit himself well enough

Can't argue with that either.........160 may be tough for Warren at the moment...........Sturm camp seem to be close to HEARN..........Who has three Brits to chuck at him............Sturm also has Geale to fight again.....................Martinez would want big money to fight here..........and GGG looks set to dominate 160..maybe even unify !!........which leaves Quillin.............

I don't know........won't be disappointed to see him go to 168...........though.

I guess with that logic it makes sense although i'm sure he's had a couple of those fighters on boxnation

I won't be disappointed if he goes to 168, I just don't feel his style will allow him to be as successful as he would should he stay at 160 but we'll see, he has the footwork, skills and speed to outbox bigger stronger men

He gets a lot of praise on here.

Fair enough but I have always had my doubts but i have not mentioned anything......


but I will now

We wait with baited breath Mate...........

Maybe you could tell us who killed Martin Luther King while you're at it !!  

Must be a money thing as he's clearly got some flesh to spare at 160 and will have serious trouble holding off competent super middles with his modest power. He at least has the correct style for someone without heavy hands, I just see shades of money over wisdom here.

If he can't beat the top brits at 160, I can't see him making a dent at 168, so they should at least try and make those match ups if they haven't already. Seeing the trouble Quillin was in against N'dam and Rosado, a matured Saunders would be an interesting foe.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:We wait with baited breath Mate...........

Maybe you could tell us who killed Martin Luther King while you're at it !!  

I have my doubts about him

Does not like having to work the inside

Can;t tie up very well

Tends to cross feet instead of moving side to side. Will get koed because of it.

Has not shaken off amature skin which reflects in his lack of power. Unable or un willing to sit down on his shots.

Will be a fringe contender tho.

But apart from that he's alright ???  

Looks fleshy at 160, think 168 is too much (at this stage at least).

Plenty of good name-building fights at 160. Clean-up domestically, including a glamour fight v Eubank jr who he's always abusing on Twitter, beat a titlist (e.g. Sturm or a Geale etc) then worry about 168.

Do you think Fiedling is overrated?

If anything I think he is underratted.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:Do you think Fiedling is overrated?

If anything I think he is underratted.

Maybe I am premature regarding.....Fielding.........But it's time we found out !!

True. But I was impressed with the way he dealt with Blackledge.

With stories surfacing that he dont 50 rounds of sparring with Froch, and wasnt hurt or put down. And with the experts prediciting an upset, Rocky dispatching him out in a round was impressing.

I remember seeing an interview with Rocky Fielding when they were talking about him maybe fighting one of the Smith brothers and Ive never seen a boxer so unenthusiastic about a fight. Basially said he would for Smith to vacate. If you arent going to try chase a guy like Smith you cant have much ambition or confidence.

You're a big fan I remember........

Hope he is as good as you say.....Will add more fire to the 168 pot......The best division in this Country for sure..

catchweight wrote:I remember seeing an interview with Rocky Fielding when they were talking about him maybe fighting one of the Smith brothers and Ive never seen a boxer so unenthusiastic about a fight. Basially said he would for Smith to vacate. If you arent going to try chase a guy like Smith you cant have much ambition or confidence.

All about respect catchy, they know each other quite well.

Apprantely both have discussed the fight and there wasn't enough money on offer from Fast Car ATM.

Surely you can respect someone and still say want to face them. Even his trainer was saying the fight wasnt on the menu. I dont know why there wouldnt be enough money for the fight. They are both Liverpool.

catchweight wrote:Surely you can respect someone and still say want to face them. Even his trainer was saying the fight wasnt on the menu. I dont know why there wouldnt be enough money for the fight. They are both Liverpool.

Exactly, but the purse being offered wasn't worth it, especially if its a headlining show in Liverpool.

Personally I don't rate him anywhere near as high as everyone else, think Groves utterly mullers him at 168.

Fair enough.............Consensus does seem to be that he's better off staying at 160..

When i watched him at the olympics, i thought he had the best style for the pro's of all of them. I've actually not been as impressed as others have with him... i'm not sure struggling with blackwell and ryder is the stuff of future greatness. Blackwell has a bit of talent and is still young, but was overwhelmed my martin murray a year earlier.

Can't put my finger on it, because i like him as a fighter, but just think he lacks a cutting edge. Don't see him troubling the supers.