Billy Joe Saunders, the current holder of the WBO middleweight belt, plans to retire at the age of 31. Before that planned retirement, however, he looks to make sure that he will achieve his goals.
Saunders is one of the most talked about boxing athletes in the world to date, but he said that he is giving himself two more years to achieve his dream of becoming the unified king of the middleweight division. To begin this two-year plan, the WBO middleweight champion looks to secure a showdown with either Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin in the near future for him to prove that he is the best in his playing weight , as reported by Metro .
But before that showdown, Saunders is set to face Martin Murray in April this year, his fourth title defense. Despite all these things at his disposal, Saunders is already clear when he will end his boxing career.
He noted that he is already 28 and that he has two more years to do what he wants to do and be the best of the best in his weight division. He added that it is all about hard work that brought him to where he is now.
He also said that while he is already older compared to other fighters in his weight division, he still believes that he is sharper than them. He then added that he wants to make the best out of his career while he still can, given that he is still young.
Saunders, who is currently unbeaten in all his 26 professional bouts, said that he is not yet at the peak of his career, but he believes he will get there in time. More than that, Saunders does not want to be punched for the next years — that is why he plans to retire early.
“I always said I want to be done at 30 or 31. You have a lot of people now who stay in a year or six months too long. That can have a big impact on your life and family.”
According to a BBC report, Saunders has considerably lost weight after teaming up with Sheffield-based trainer Dominic Ingle . Saunders, meanwhile, clarified that he lost weight because he is doing his boxing career as a “job” more than a “chore.”