Billy Joe Saunders’ Return, Joshua And Jake Paul’s Improvements
Billy Joe Saunders has called out Edgar Berlanga for his next fight.
Saunders does have a resume to compete with any fighter by virtue of the fact that he is a two-weight-world champion.
However, in the biggest fight of his career against Canelo Alvarez in 2021, he suffered an eight-round-stoppage defeat after retiring in the corner.
Since then, Saunders has not made a return to the ring with issues surrounding his weight and the viability of opponents.
He had been linked with a rematch against Chris Eubank Jr. as question marks remain over whether or not Saunders can get back to fighting at world level.
But by facing Berlanga, he would be taking on an unbeaten fighter. The American’s last fight was a unanimous-decision win over Jason Quigley.
Despite knocking him down four times, Berlanga failed to stop him inside the distance. However, after the fight, Berlanga and Eddie Hearn were targeting a fight with Jaimie Mungia.
With that being said, Saunders may not be at the top of the list. And yet, that did not prevent the boxer from putting Berlanga on notice.
@EdgarBerlangaJr littil pussy get ready I want you as my warm up . Like a littil aggressive kangaroo
— billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) July 18, 2023
Saunders’ Weight
Nevertheless, the chances of Saunders returning may be slim. DAZN’s Ade Oladipo recently confirmed that Saunders looked above the 168-pound limit that Berlanga fights at.
And given that Saunders is at the latter end of his career, expecting him to make that weight cut may be more difficult than first thought.
“I saw Billy Joe at an event. It must have been about four months ago. Big. He was big, way bigger than I was, and definitely over 200 pounds. He wants to become a three-weight world champion.
“There are great fights out there for him domestically and worldwide at 175. So he’s got a chance. I just don’t know. I don’t know if you can take that long off, and again me seeing the size of him, I’m guessing he didn’t really live the life,” Oladipo
Joshua On Being Smarter
But one man who is looking to come back with a vengeance is Anthony Joshua. The former unified heavyweight champion is on a rebuild after hiring Derrick James as his trainer.
In their first fight together, Joshua put on a work-man-like performance to beat Jermaine Franklin via a unanimous decision.
In the aftermath, ‘AJ’ admitted that it was vital to get in the rounds as he adjusted to his new trainer.
Meanwhile, Joshua was also very vocal about how his defense had not been up to scratch during his time training with Rob McCracken.
So much so that he publicly admitted that he wished he had crossed paths with James earlier in his career. As a result, Joshua has targeted becoming a smarter fighter moving forward.
After all, his back-to-back defeats against Oleksandr Usyk had shown that Joshua was not able to impose his will on the Ukrainian despite having the clear physical advantages.
“I’m just trying to get smarter as a fighter, that’s all, that’s all that really is. Now obviously that process of trying to learn…like when I got beat my [Andy] Ruiz in the first fight (in 2019), I had my health issues.
“But I kind of knew at some point I was going to get stuck. Why? I didn’t feel like I was learning. I was fighting but I wasn’t learning.
“That’s why after Ruiz in the first [fight] where I went through that re-building phase to the point where I completely changed my styles.
“Let me try to build on and understand the fundamentals of boxing: stick, move, hit and don’t get hit. …And now I have to kind of—I’ve searched high and low.
“Externally in terms of trainers and environment and also internally … it all starts from here. The mind controls everything,” Joshua
Jake Paul’s Lesson
Equally, Jake Paul is grateful to Tommy Fury despite the Brit inflicting the first defeat of his career. Paul lost to Fury via a split decision.
Thereafter, Paul resorted to fighting non-professional boxers as he faces Nate Diaz on August 5th, 2023.
The ‘Problem Child’ is clearly looking to rebuild having expressed his desire to run things back with Fury going forward. Despite the loss, Paul admitted that there were many lessons learned.
“I think the biggest thing – like you said – is growth. These things happen and the universe always has a plan. And I’m glad that it happened to me at this point in my life. It’s a reality check beyond just the sport,” Paul
Those comments have to be read in light of the wider context. Paul’s KO wins over Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren took attention away from the lack of boxing fundamentals that were exposed during the fight with Fury.
However, Paul recognized that this was a blessing in disguise, as he vowed to improve moving forward.
“That was the whole problem, is me winning, putting all these people on the canvas. Knockout of the Year…all this money and s***.
“And so you get comfortable, and there were so many lessons in the loss that – and so many things that I needed to change, that now I’ve done that and learned from to make me a better man and a better fighter.
“And so I thank Tommy Fury for beating me,” Paul
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