Billy Joe Saunders

Billy Joe Saunders, whose boxing moniker was “Superb”, was a British middleweight and later at super-middleweight, a southpaw from Welwyn Garden City who made his living on angles, feints and the quiet humiliation of making an opponent miss by inches. Saunders went on to hold the WBO middleweight title from 2015 to 2018 and the WBO super-middleweight title from 2019 to 2021. He finished with 30 wins and one defeat from 31 bouts, 14 of the wins by knockout, and he became the first fighter from the Travelling community to win world championships in two weight classes.

He came out of the amateur system with real credentials. Saunders represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympic Games, going out in the second round of the welterweight tournament, and in the same year, he won gold at the European Union Championships. Those results mattered because they pointed to the kind of boxer he would become: clever with his feet, quick to spot a rhythm, and comfortable fighting in a way that asked questions rather than supplied easy answers. He turned professional on 28 February 2009, and from the beginning, he was a familiar type in British boxing, a young southpaw with enough talent to irritate the right men and enough personality to ensure the irritation was mutual.

The early professional years were spent building steadily through the usual mix of domestic shows, with Saunders learning to control rounds rather than chase moments. By 2012, he was already a recognised title fighter, and in 2013, he won the British middleweight title against the unbeaten John Ryder, a hard, physical contest that signalled he could handle more than just the technical side. That same year, he outpointed the unbeaten Gary O’Sullivan, and in 2014, he took the European middleweight title by stopping the unbeaten Emanuele Blandamura. The rivalry that brought him a bigger audience came at the end of 2014 when he met Chris Eubank Jr at the ExCeL in London, outboxing him early and surviving the late surge to win a split decision, retaining his British, Commonwealth and European belts. It was a fight that suited Saunders’ strengths: enough spite in the build-up, enough urgency in the late rounds, and enough space for him to show that he could bank rounds before the other man realised the cheque had already been written.

His first world title shot came on 19 December 2015 at Manchester Arena against Andy Lee for the WBO middleweight title. Saunders won a majority decision, dropping Lee in the third round and then controlling long stretches with movement and quick counters, taking the belt with a performance that was tidier than it was dramatic. As champion, he defended against Artur Akavov and Willie Monroe Jr, then produced one of his best nights in Canada in December 2017 against David Lemieux, shutting out a noted puncher over twelve rounds with disciplined boxing and constant control of distance. The end of his middleweight reign did not come in the ring. In 2018, he tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine ahead of a scheduled defence against Demetrius Andrade, and with licensing problems and the likelihood of being stripped, he vacated the WBO title. It closed that chapter abruptly, with the belt gone and the momentum broken.

Saunders returned at a higher weight and, in May 2019 at Stevenage, won the vacant WBO super-middleweight title against Shefat Isufi, boxing comfortably over twelve rounds. Later that year, he defended in Los Angeles, stopping Marcelo Esteban Coceres in the eleventh after a fight that had become increasingly one-sided. In December 2020, he defended again at Wembley Arena against Martin Murray, winning a clear unanimous decision over twelve rounds, doing the measured work of a champion without taking unnecessary risks. By then, he was an established two-weight world champion, not the prospect who needed rounds, but a seasoned operator who knew how to manage a fight and when to turn the screw.

Sauinder’s career-defining fight came on 8 May 2021 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when he met Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez in a unification bout. Saunders boxed competitively early and tried to keep the champion turning, but a heavy right uppercut in the eighth round caused a serious injury around the eye, and he did not come out for the ninth, losing by corner retirement and surrendering the WBO super-middleweight title. He has not fought since and has been listed as inactive, leaving his professional story effectively complete: a gifted, awkward southpaw who won world titles at middleweight and super-middleweight, beat good men on big nights, travelled when it suited the opportunity, and, at his best, made the ring look like a place where only he knew the measurements.