Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
On Saturday, December 3, 2016, Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) successfully defended his WBO Middleweight title against Artur Akavov (16-2, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Scotland, United Kingdom.
The 12-round fight was televised on BoxNation in the U.K.
Saunders, 27, was making the first defense of his WBO Middleweight title. The native of the United Kingdom had not defended his title since winning it against Andy Lee last December.
Akavov is a 30-year-old native of Russia who almost scored an upset, but came up short on the judges scorecards.
The fight was closer than the scores suggest because Akavov won many of the earlier and later rounds due to his activity and to Saunders’ sluggishness. Nevertheless, Saunders won with scores of 116-113, 116-112 and 115-113.
In the opening rounds, Saunders tried to shake off the ring rust caused by his year-long absence. Saunders boxed from the outside while Akavov pushed forward with hard shots, none of which hurt Saunders.
In the middle rounds, Akavov controlled the fight by being busier, but by Rounds 7 and 8, Saunders began pushing forward and landing hard shots, one of which stunned Akavov in the eighth round. Saunders now seemed to be fighting with a sense of urgency.
In the final two rounds, a clearly exhausted Saunders had to dig very deep to keep up with his challenger, and though the scorecards clearly demonstrate a bias, Akavov won many rounds.
“I’ve been out a year, was a bit overweight. Tonight was really, really flat. I’d like to apologize to the fans,” said Saunders in his post-fight interview with BoxNation.
“That was not a World Championship performance. Most British fighters perform better than that, but a win’s a win,” said Saunders.
Saunders also said that he could not call out Gennady Golovkin, the WBC, WBA and IBF Middleweight champion, on a performance like tonight. Unfortunately, that may mean that we won’t see him fight Golovkin next.
However, contrary to what Saunders had just said, Francis Warren, Saunders’ promoter, stated that big fights such as those with Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez and even Chris Eubank Jr. were the next step for Saunders.
What did you think of Saunders’ performance? Will a fight with Golovkin or Alvarez be next?
Header Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
