Saunders v Khurtszides - 8/7/17 BT/Boxnation

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Undefeated Saunders, 27, makes the second defence his WBO Middleweight title against the colourful Georgian at London’s Copper Box Arena on July 8, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.
Khurtsidze sealed his status as mandatory contender for the Hatfield traveller’s World crown with a fifth round win over Tommy Langford in Leicester on April 30.
It was his sixth consecutive KO win since moving to Brooklyn and signing with Lou DiBella, one of the World’s leading promoters.
Saunders narrowly beat another DiBella boxer Artur Akavov in December and the New York promoter believes the Briton faces an even tougher night against Khurtsidze who has won 33 of his 37 fights.
DiBella said: “Billy Joe is a very skilled fighter, but you never know which Billy Joe is going to show up.
“The fight with Akavov was a close, competitive fight. No one predicted that and Billy Joe hasn’t looked the best of himself in a long time.
“The one thing about Khurtsidze is that he’s hungrier than Billy Joe, he’s relentless with his attacks and capable of doing damage at any stage of the fight.
“Khurtsidze could be down by four or five rounds and still mount offensive attacks that could win him the fight.
“He is dangerous from the first bell until the end of the 12th round.”
With the IBF, WBA and WBC belts on the line when Canelo and GGG meet in September, the winner of Saunders v Khurtsidze will be in line for a huge payday and the chance to become undisputed
World Middleweight Champion against the victor.
Saunders had hoped to face Golovkin instead of ‘interim’ WBO champ Khurtsidze, but the fight fell through when the Kazakh signed to face Canelo.
DiBella added: “I don’t think missing out on the Golovkin fight will affect Billy Joe. He knows the importance of this fight.
“If he does beat Khurtsidze there is a big, big money fight there for him.
“I give Billy Joe enough credit that he understands the importance of this fight and will be prepared and ready.”
Saunders clashed with Khurtsidze and his trainer Andre Rozier at recent press conferences, but DiBella believes the boxers could become close once their ring rivalry ends
“When I saw Frank Warren had called the fight ‘Mad Men’, I thought that was perfect because these are two crazy SOBs,” laughed DiBella
“It is hard to say who is the craziest. The irony of all the fire and craziness of their first press conference is that away from it all they would get along.”

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Biggest night of Saunders life so far and a must win fight if he wants the Big money fight that should follow, he's in good hands with Adam Booth,
Booth will have him in brilliant shape for this one and Saunders needs to be after his embarrassing performance last time out.

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Bitter Super-Middleweight rivals Darryll Williams and Jahmaine Smyle will rematch for the English title at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday 8th July, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.
In what was a contender for Fight of the Year, the evenly-matched foes gave their all in a bid to win the English strap last month at the Leicester Arena.
The ferocious bout went the South Londoner’s way on a split points decision after 10 tremendous rounds of gruelling, back-and-forth action that had fans on their feet throughout.
Social media exploded during the fight as fans called on promoter Frank Warren to match the pair together in an immediate return. Both men are chomping at the bit to get at each other for a second time.
“It is going to be another wicked fight for the fans,” said Williams. “The last fight was a war but the rematch is going to be more straight forward for me. I had a poor training camp for the first fight and I wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
“If I was still capable of going to war with him after all of that, imagine what I can do to him this time. Travelling down to my manor is going to take its toll on him and he is going to see what London is really about.”
“This is going to be World War 3,” said Smyle. “I have been back in the gym for a few weeks now getting ready and I can’t wait to trade leather with him again. I am fighting as a challenger now and have a lot of determination to win my title back.
“I am going to take it to him and dominate him – I want a knockout. I don’t feel any pressure travelling down to London to face him, he will be fighting in front of his family and friends and all of the pressure is on him this time. The fans know what they are in for and they won’t be disappointed.”

[Memphis]

This is one of those rare occasions when I dont care if the Brit gets bashed up, happens some times. I really hope that the pitbull is still ploughing into Saunders at the business end of the fight and giving him all sorts of grief. Saunders has done the distance a billion times but for some reason he's now struggling with the back end of fights. Up in class maybe, training or lack of maybe, I dont know. Fact is he's looked like dog shite down the stretch in his two most important wins.

He reckons he's going to stand Khurtsidze on his head for 6 rounds and then turn the screw in the 7th/8th. I'll be very impressed with that. He'll still be a prick though.

[Memphis]

So it turns out Kurtissteigers is more Joe Pesci than Danny DeVito

The fuckers been nicked and the fights off

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/box...ew-York-boxing

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So it turns out Kurtissteigers is more Joe Pesci than Danny DeVito

The fuckers been nicked and the fights off

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/box...ew-York-boxing

Love it!!

So basically he's a Mafia enforcer

He's been arrested across the pond after being indicted under the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations) Act.

[Primo Carnera]

Fucks sake! Obviously this isn't BJS's fault, but it doesn't help him one bit. He needs to keep in shape with this delay otherwise we'll have the same old "boiling down, tune up fight" scenarios and he's getting nowhere.

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True i actually feel sorry for Saunders, he just doesn't get the breaks.

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So it's official Khurtszides has links with the New York based Russian Mafia.



The upcoming July 8th middleweight title fight between Billy Joe Saunders and Avtandil Khurtsidze at the Copper Box in London has been cancelled.
Khurtsidze has been arrested due to crime syndicate connections to a New York based Russian mafia. The Georgian fighter is not allowed travel abroad, therefore a fight against Saunders is not happening.
The U.S Attorney for the Southern District of New York have released the following statement:
“Today, we have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise, one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian ‘vor’ [which refers to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who receive tribute from other criminals]. The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime syndicate allegedly includes a murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices. Thanks to the remarkable interagency partnership of FBI, CBP, and NYPD, we have charged and arrested 33 defendants allegedly involved in this criminal enterprise.”
Khurtsidze was known as ‘The Kickboxer’ and he is among the 33 men who have been charged.
Promoter Frank Warren has also released a statement concerning this issue:
“Today, Queensberry Promotions were informed that Billy Joe Saunders’ mandatory challenger Avtandil Khurtsidze was yesterday arrested in New York indicted under the RICO Act.
As such, his contest with WBO World Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders scheduled for Saturday, July 8 at the Copper Box Arena, cannot take place on that date as his promoter Lou DiBella has confirmed he will be unable to travel.
The event at the Copper Box Arena on July 8, televised on BT Sport and BoxNation, will still take place and feature fantastic fights including the WBO European Light-Heavyweight Championship contest between Richard Baranyi and Anthony Yarde, the return of teenage Heavyweight sensation Daniel Dubois and the eagerly-anticipated rematch between Darryll Williams and Jahmaine Smyle for the English Super-Middleweight title; with further additions to the card to follow in due course.
We are currently planning to postpone the fight to a later date. However, due to the obvious seriousness of this matter, Queensberry Promotions are given no choice but to wait for more details to emerge before anything can be confirmed.
Further information, including additions to the show, ticketing and refund options, will follow in due course.”



http://boxing-social.com/news/saunde...lly-cancelled/

[Dark Lord Al]

Saunders only option is to move up to SMW and rematch Eubank , for the - Tesco Value Linear World Super Middle Weight title.

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Warren should try and sort out Saunders v Lemieux on the GGG v Canelo undercard

[Primo Carnera]

Warren should try and sort out Saunders v Lemieux on the GGG v Canelo undercard

No chance of that, Lemieux would beat him up.

[Alpha]

Hopefully they can get Saunders a fight soon against a decent opponent. Ryota Murata, David Lemieux, Rob Brant, Willie Monroe, Jr & Danny Jacobs are the WBO's top 5. I'd be happy with any of them. It'll end up being Liam Smith, Langford or Cummings.

[erics44]

surely they can get him a half decent stand in in the next month

surely someone half decent would be willing to fight for a worldy at a months notice

[Fenster]

Gypo and all but Saunders must have had a gulp when he learned he was offering Frankie Fraseriski out for a straightener.