Billy Joe Saunders was set to face Canelo Alvarez in the biggest fight of his life before the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Now he’ll have to settle for Martin Murray.
Saunders will make the second defense of his super middleweight title against his countryman on Dec. 4 at The SSE Arena (Wembley Arena) in London. The card will be streamed on DAZN in the U.S. and televised on Sky Sports in the U.K.
Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) won the vacant WBO 168-pound title when he defeated Shefat Isufi by a wide decision in May of last year in Stevenage, England. He stopped Marcelo Coceres in the 11th round in his first defense last November in Los Angeles.
He hopes to unify the super middleweight titles next year.
“I am very happy to be defending my WBO world title again,” Saunders aid. ‘I haven’t boxed for a year, and I really do miss being in the ring. I can’t wait to have my 30th professional fight and finish the year with a bang before a big 2021.
“The coronavirus pandemic has affected everybody in many ways, and it has had a big impact on the sport of boxing. The Canelo Alvarez fight falling through was very frustrating for me, but now the journey continues in December.
“Martin and I were supposed to fight twice before but it didn’t happen either time. He said some stuff and so did I, so let’s see who can back it up. I’m enjoying training with Mark Tibbs. He’s incredibly knowledgeable in the sport of boxing, and we are working on new stuff that we will show on the night.”
Murray (39-5-1, 17 KOs) was scheduled to face Saunders in 2018 but their fight fell through twice.
The long time middleweight and super middleweight contender challenged for a major title four times between 2011 and 2015, going 0-3-1 in those fights.
He drew with then-middleweight titleholder Felix Sturm in 2011 and lost title fights against Sergio Martinez (UD), Gennady Golovkin (TKO 11) and Arthur Abraham (SD). The Abraham fight was at 168.
The 38-year-old is 7-2 since then, losing decisions to George Groves and Hassan N’Dam. He last fought in November, outpointing Sladan Janjanin in an eight-round fight.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back in there and fighting for another world title,” Murray said. “The big fights definitely bring out the best in me. This year has been a good year for me personally. It seemed like all the stresses of life were taken away, so I really enjoyed being able to relax a bit more and spend even more time with my family.
“There was no bad blood really between me and Billy, to be honest. It was just a lot of frustration after he pulled out twice. That got left where it was, but we’ve definitely got some unfinished business. I’m expecting a hard fight and Billy Joe to be at his best, so I’ll be ready.”
Said promoter Eddie Hearn: “I’m delighted to announce another big fight for the 2020 schedule as we close out this tough year with a huge bang. All-British world title fights are always special, especially in the super middleweight division, and I’m really excited to see Billy back in the ring.
“We were 24 hours away from an announcement for Billy to fight Canelo when the pandemic hit, and so it throws up the final roll of the dice for Martin Murray, who will give it everything on December 4.”
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