Billy Joe Saunders has been wanting a fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin for some time.
It now seems Saunders could fight Gennady Golovkin in a middleweight unification showdown in September, the WBO middleweight champion’s promoter Frank Warren has revealed.
Warren told Boxing News, that Gennady Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler are open to taking on Saunders in September, however, they rejected a chance for the fight to happen in June. It appears GGG still has plans to fight on May 5th, with a potential bout with Irishman Spike O’Sullivan in the works.
Alvarez pulled himself from the fight with GGG as he tries to clear his name after traces of clenbuterol were found in his bloodstream. He faces a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing on April 18th.
It was expected that Alvarez was to face GGG in September however Alvarez could face a suspension ruling him out of that match up too, placing Saunders in pole position.
Warren feels he should face some punishment if found guilty.
“I don’t think he [Canelo] can just be forgiven,” Warren said. “He has been caught and if he is guilty, he has to get a ban which is one-year in Nevada, I believe.”
Warren added that there was never an option for Saunders to replace Alvarez on May 5th.
“We couldn’t just cut corners to make that [May 5] date,” the promoter said. “It’s not just about being ready to fight Golovkin, it is about being ready to beat him. We would have been ready to beat him in June, but Tom Loeffler has said they will go ahead and fight on May 5, probably against Spike O’Sullivan, which is ridiculous.”
