“If you beat Andy Lee…”
“When I beat Andy Lee.”
“If you beat Andy Lee…”
“When I beat Andy Lee.”
The back and forth between WBO title challenger Billy Joe Saunders (21-0, 11 KO’s) and Kugan Cassius of iFL TV was one typical of their often pally interactions, and the interviewer gave a bit more needle by asking if Saunders would take on WBA Super champ Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KO’s) afterwards if he defeats Andy Lee (34-2-1, 24 KO’s) for his belt on September 19th.
Saunders blew air between his lips and said, “Nah, cuz me titles just gonna go ennit,” laughing as bent forward, finding the question ridiculous.
“Why would I beat Andy Lee and fight Golovkin?”
“I’m not fighting Golovkin at all yet,” he said, laughing loudly again.
“Kugan, let me tell you what sort of fighter I am; I’m up straight, and I’m honest. I fancy my chances with any 160[pound fighter] in the world, any 160. Take him out of the equation.”
But what if the money was too good to turn down?
“Then obviously yeah, I’ll fight.”
“Golovkin, I want him to have another two years, go up and down in weight, have a few hard fights, another two years when I’m 27-28 the bang I’ll get him when he’s sliding.
Call it what you want but I love this man’s honesty. No bullshit, straight to the point.
Saunders goes on to call himself “a winner, a born winner,” and if this seems bizarre on the surface, it is, kind of. But what he is saying, plainly, is that in boxing it is just as important to pick you spots when it comes to who you will fight -and when you fight them- as it is when throwing punches between the ropes.
Aside from this admission, he has nothing but concrete confidence in the notion his world title challenge in September, when he will travel to Thomond Park Stadium in Andy Lee’s hometown of Limerick, Ireland, will be a successful one.
That meeting of southpaws, Lee’s puncher against Saunders’ boxer, has the ingredients to be a highly entertaining one and in novel surroundings to add to the intrigue.
Saunders and his traveler brethren Tyson Fury share the same faculty for raising laughs when a microphone is shoved in front of them. And as both their fights move closer, we are sure to be treated to further entertaining interviews.
