Billy Joe Saunders was in top form this week, when confirmation arrived of his next opponent.
The undefeated WBO middleweight champion is to defend his title against Georgian veteran Avtandil Khurtsidze on July 8 at London’s Copper Box Arena.
Having seen his hopes of a lucrative payday against pound-for-pound great Gennady Golovkin fail to be realised this time around, Saunders is to keep busy and he will be hoping to make it 25-0 against Khurtsidze.
The pair almost came to blows recently, just moments after Khurtsidze stopped Tommy Langford in the fifth round to claim the interim WBO middleweight title in Leicester.
We've got a fight https://t.co/ukQUgrVjhI
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) April 23, 2017
Things were far less intense this week though, when promoter Frank Warren gathered the media to speak to both fighters.
After being requested to square off with one another, Saunders encouraged his upcoming opponent to raise his fist for the photographers.
Khurtsidze ignored the request but Saunders didn’t take it to heart as he leaned in and offered a friendly hug to the 38-year-old.
The whole room exploded into laughter at the sight of two men set to fight one another embracing tenderly but Saunders wasn’t quite so nice with what he had to say about Khurtsidze.
“No disrespect to him but I will show you what he is when I fight him,” said Saunders, via BoxingScene.com.
“All he is to me is a puffed-up Danny De Vito coming forward throwing wild punches. It takes more than just power if you want to get anywhere near me. He will never beat me and I will make him look stupid on July 8th.
“He does possess knockout power but I’m going to make sure I’m in the shape of my life and give him the toughest night he has ever had.”
