Billy Joe Saunders plans to launch his comeback at light heavyweight in September after four years out of the ring. The former two-division world champion Saunders (30-1, 14 KOs) says his goal is to become world champion at 175. That goal will be near impossible for Billy Joe to achieve at his age. He’ll turn 36 in August, and he’s not young or strong enough to contend with the light heavyweights David Benavidez and David Morrell.
More about Money?
You’d like to think that the reason for Saunders’ comeback is for legacy purposes, to achieve something great. However, it just reeks of Billy Joe smelling money, hoping the Saudis will give him $10-20 million like some of these other fighters have been getting. Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn have made a fortune, yet neither of them has ever won a world title. They likely never will. For Saunders to afford one of the mega-mansions in Virginia Water in Surrey, he would need the big payday fights against Eubank Jr. and Dmitry Bivol. It might be next to impossible for Saunders. He’ll likely fall apart like an old car in his first fight back against a tune-up opponent.
Those two are examples of fighters making a fortune despite lacking the talent to win titles. Saunders must feel left out seeing those two rake in the cash; hence, the comeback. Billy Joe is likely counting on getting the rematch with Eubank Jr. in a huge-money PPV fight in Riyadh. That would be a business-level fight and nothing to do with sports at all. Obviously, it would have no real belt on the line;; it wouldn’t be near light heavyweight.
“My biggest goal would be to become a three-weight world champion, but let’s just get back fighting and then see where we are,” said Billy Joe Saunders to Ring Magazine about his goal of capturing a world title at light heavyweight in his comeback.
If Saunders believes the Saudis will shower him with money by shooting him straight to the top to challenge the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev 2 rematch, he’s kidding himself. They won’t do that, or I hope they don’t. That would be a bad look for the sport for Billy Joe to beat a cream puff in a tune-up and then be given a crack at the Bivol-Beterbiev 2 winner.
The Gauntlet of Pain
Billy Joe must go through David Morrell if he wants a chance to fight for the gold. It would be fun for fans to watch Saunders try to box Morrell to keep from getting crushed by one of his powerful left hands. If Billy Joe wants to get a chance to make the big money at 175, he should have to run through this little gauntlet:
David Morrell
Joshua Buatsi
Callum Smith
David Benavidez
Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Saunders was knocked out in the eighth round by Canelo Alvarez on May 8th, 2021. He suffered a fractured right eye socket and cheekbone in that defeat. Canelo took advantage of Billy Joe’s habit of leaning forward with his hands down by his side. He’d been fighting like that his entire career and gotten away with it against the mostly lackluster opposition on which he’d built his 30-0 record.
When Saunders tried that against Canelo, the Mexican star nailed him with an uppercut in the eighth round and immediately started celebrating when he saw his right eye swell up.
Saunders reportedly made $8 million from the Canelo fight, which explains why he hasn’t fought since. He’s been living the high life. However, he made the mistake of staying out of the ring this long. If he’d have stayed busy, he likely would have been included on one of the Saudi cards against Eubank Jr. or Benn.
Last Updated on 05/10/2025
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