New Irish middleweight titleholder Andy Lee is open to setting up a blockbuster battle with rising British middleweight star Billy Joe Saunders. The 30-year-old southpaw took on on Matt Korobov for the vacant WBO strap, and pulled off a huge upset win, winning the fight with a 6th round stoppage. Even before the fight, he was aware that if he won he must fight undefeated Saunders – who won the WBO eliminator contest against Chris Eubank Jr last month – next up.
Saunders looked impressive in his recent win over Chris Eubank Jr, overcoming the exciting ace when he scored a split points victory to continue his march towards a title shot. That performance impressed Lee, who dreams of facing-off with the 25-year-old Saunders in front of his adoring Irish fans.
Before Lee’s win over Korobov, he had this to say about facing Saunders:
“Yeah, that’s a fight I would like.
“That fight has been ordered by the WBO for the winner of this, but it’s not a reality until I win the fight on Saturday – but once I win the fight if it’s Billy Joe, it’s Billy Joe. It doesn’t matter.”
“That’s my dream, to win a world title and then defend it in Ireland, in Limerick or Dublin, Dublin would be more likely. That’s one of my ambitions, to become champion and defend it in Ireland,” said Lee.
“Experience was key [in the Saunders-Eubank Jr fight]. Billy Joe knew what to do, he’d been there before and he kind of shut him down for the first six rounds.
“Then it was always going to be uphill for Eubank. To give away the first six rounds was almost suicide really.”
