Billy Joe Saunders to make first defense Oct. 22, opponent TBD

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

Middleweight world titleholder Billy Joe Saunders will make his first defense against an opponent to be determined on Oct. 22 at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales, promoter Frank Warren announced.

Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs), 27, of England, who previously avoided a world title unification fight with Gennady Golovkin despite calling him out and then being offered a career payday to fight him, will be fighting for the first time since December, when he eked out a majority decision to win the title from Ireland’s Andy Lee.
Middleweight world titleholder Billy Joe Saunders, right, will make his defense on Oct. 22. Dave Thompson/Getty Images
Saunders was supposed to make his initial defense against Ukraine’s Max Bursak on April 30 in London, but pulled out after suffering a left hand injury. Saunders took the fight with Bursak after rejecting the offer to unify with Golovkin on April 23.

Then Saunders was supposed to make his first defense on the Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko II undercard on Oct. 29 in Manchester, England, but he had his fight moved up one week when the heavyweight championship rematch was canceled last week due to Fury’s withdrawal.

“I can’t wait to shake the cobwebs off and get back in there where I belong. It’s been too long,” Saunders said. “Every fight is dangerous at this stage so it is important that I don’t overlook or underestimate anybody. I have worked long and hard to get where I am today and there is some huge fights out there for me. I need to take care of this fight and then I’ll move on to bigger and better things. I’m fully focused on the job in hand and putting on an explosive performance down in Cardiff. I can’t wait to get this show on the road.”

Also on the card, England’s Tommy Langford had hoped to challenge middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. for the British title but Eubank, who also dodged Golovkin despite calling him out and being offered a career-high payday to fight him earlier this month in London, pulled out, claiming an elbow injury.

So with Eubank out of the fight and vacating the British title, Langford (17-0, 6 KOs), 27, the Commonwealth champion, will instead take on Sam Sheedy (17-1, 4 KOs), 28, for the vacant British title, promoter Frank Warren announced Wednesday.

“This is a great fight for me,” Langford said. “Sam is a good boxer and has one of those styles that can make life very difficult for anyone so I will have to get it right on the night. He’s only lost once in a fight that he should have won. I’ve watched it back and it was an unlucky decision against Navid Mansouri. He poses a lot of threats but I am very confident I can get in there and get the job done.

“Having the opportunity to fight for the British title is phenomenal for me and it’s a great chance to propel myself on to that next level. This is a chance to put my name in the history books and I won’t be letting it pass.”

England’s Paul Butter (21-1, 12 KOs), the 27-year-old former bantamweight world titlist, will also fight on the card in a scheduled 10-round bout against an opponent to be determined. The fight will be Butler’s first since linking up with top British trainer Joe Gallagher, who was named 2015 trainer of the year by Ring magazine.
“I’m really looking forward to working alongside Joe,” Butler said. “We’ve already been working on a few little things in the gym that will improve me. He’s a great professional and has watched all of my previous fights to pinpoint areas in which I can improve.

“Just being around the lads in the gym and seeing the big fights that they’re involved in is good to be around and it gives you a real push. I’ve known most of the guys in the gym since I was an amateur. Working alongside them and watching them train is good, you pick up new things such as different shot selections every day.”

Butler has won four fights in a row since dropping down to junior bantamweight and getting stopped by Zolani Tete in the eighth round of a March 2015 world title bout in Liverpool, England.

British junior middleweight champion Liam Williams (15-0-1, 10 KOs), 24, of Wales, headlines the card in a defense against London’s 28-year-old Ahmet Patterson (17-0, 7 KOs).