Billy Joe Saunders Confident He Can Stop Demetrius Andrade

By Fight Sports May 28, 2020

Looking to prove who the best middleweight fighter is, Billy Joe Saunders truly believes it a two-man race: him and Demetrius Andrade. Whenever the two finally get to clash, Saunders believes he will walk out the victor.

Speaking on Matchroom Boxing’s “Talk The Talk” podcast with Eddie Hearn and Tony Bellow, Saunders (29-0) talked about potential opponents he could face following the coronavirus pandemic. One of the names brought up was Andrade (29-0). The two were supposed to face off before, in October 2018 for Saunders’ then-WBO Middleweight Title. The latter relinquished his belt after testing positive for oxilofrine, canceling a bout between the two.

Since then, Andrade has called out Saunders, stating it would be an easy win for him. Saunders responded, and his comments surprised Bellow.

“Do you know what with Andrade?,” Saunders stated, via Boxing Scene. “It’s one of them that he’s got a very, very big mouth. But I know that – listen, you never hear me say this – but I would be very confident of stopping Andrade because of his style.”

Andrade, the WBO Middleweight Champion, has defended the belts against mandatory challengers three times. He has been criticized for his lack of pop when it comes to finishing off his opponents. The last fight he had that didn’t go past the fifth round was in 2015 when he beat Dario Fabian Pucheta via TKO. Bellow stated that he hasn’t seen anything special yet from Saunders, for the same reason.

Saunders ended up winning the WBO Super-Middleweight Title against Shefat Isufi. He defended it once, beating Marcelo Esteban Coceres via TKO. He has since had his boxing license suspended due to controversial statements made regarding women. The BBBofC is waiting for him to go through a hearing.

Besides Andrade, Saunders would like to face off against Callum Smith, the WBA Super-Middleweight Champion, in a unification bout. At the very top of his list is a fight with Canelo Alvarez. The two were scheduled to fight one another in May before the pandemic took over. Saunders was confident in his ability in a potential fight against Canelo, boxing’s golden boy.

“I’m in this sport, Eddie, because I want to be the best,” Saunders went on to say. “I’ve been banging on it long enough now, I believe I’ve got the tools to beat him (Canelo). He’s an exceptionally great fighter, one of the best, but to get that way to be the best, you have to beat them sort of people. At the minute, he’s the cash cow, he’s the big man, everyone in the boxing world knows him. He’s the man I’d love to beat.”