Hands up, I'm a big Billy Joe Saunders fan, but I find Andy Lee a good guy too and had this a pretty even fight up until his words this week. Andy is getting carried away with his own ability and punching power big time, and underestimating Billy Joe too. He now reckons he hits as hard as Gennady Golovkin, is the man to beat 'GGG', and that he feels no threat from Saunders. Yet again Billy Joe Saunders is being underestimated, his opponent over-estimated. I'll take a bit of the even money on him to take this one.
Andy Lee normally comes across as a pretty decent and respectful fella, and much of what i've seen this week is merely pre fight talk. FWIW, i think Saunders is by far the better boxer, and if he can maintain some gas in the later rounds, and not try to man it out if tagged, i see him winning the decision.
He is a bit overconfident in his one shot ko power and it could come back to haunt him because billy may win the exchanges all night but lee should get to him late
I watched an interview with Booth and he said himself you can't go into a fight hoping you land a knock out shot and also said BJS has been in with some very good fighters and hasn't touched the canvas so you need more than just power. Booth isn't stupid, he will have a solid gameplan and it will be up to Lee to execute it.
Andy Lee is merely showing full confidence knowing that bjs will be watching. It's what you have to do. He's not going to come across all sheepish and inject confidence into Saunders now is he. He's just attempting to give his opponent something to think about. It's simple
Does Saunders have the power to stop Lee? Lee has always looked a bit shaky around the whiskers to me, maybe a good outside bet!
I like both Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders. Both are good boxers who take risky fights and are nice outside the ring. I prefer Billy Joe in this though as I am not too fond of Booth he's a clever man but seems pretty smug a lot of the time. I do think Billy Joe has a good chance in this he's being written off in America but personally I fancy him to do the job.
He couldn't put away glass-jawed Quillin which to me raises serious questions about his power. He's overrating himself on the fact he KO'd two fragile hypejobs... and was behind on points against both. He's also forgetting he went life and death with Frank Horta and Anthony Fitzgerald not too long ago.
Hello everybody. I'm a long-time reader of this forum, but a first-time poster here. I'm currently reading the latest edition of Boxing News, including the Lee v Saunders preview. The following is a direct quote from Andy Lee: "I'm a big, strong Middleweight, and I punch as hard as Gennady Golovkin." As hard as Golovkin? Really? Ummm ... sure you do, Andy. That's why Peter Quillin went the distance with you, right? In addendum to this, if Lee is getting carried away with himself and over-estimating his punching power, surely that means he is more likely to stalk Saunders, and just load up on his hooks, thus looking to take Billy Joe out with one shot? If so, this plays right into Billy Joe's hands; I personally believe Saunders is all wrong for Lee, and will look to put rounds in the bank over the first half of the fight with straight shots, timing and movement. Perhaps if Saunders does tire (an obvious issue with him), he can hang on through rounds 9 to 12, to take a deserved points victory.