Billy Joe Saunders, Next Fight?

Hey guys

Been pondering this since he won the Lee fight...

Who is FW looking at putting him in with realistically? I saw the IFL interview with FW where he was saying they have loads of options, can take their time, do what they want, the ball is in their court etc...

But, realistically- what does it boil down to?

GGG- BJS and FW both seem to want to build up to this, so not happening next
Lemieux? - high risk, low reward...coming off a loss..tough style matchup...not a big name in UK...champ shouldn't go to Canada for challenger...
Quillin? - why fight someone that drew with the guy that you just beat for the belt? No demand for this.
N'Dam? - zero demand. No name value, and potential snoozefest given both guys style. Would be a tricky out as well.
Eubank Jr? - Although this makes sense, both FW and BJS are talking as if there is no chance of this, and Jr seems to already have a couple of potential options lined up (Jacobs, Blackwell)
Canelo - has his own agenda at the moment with his 155 CW, and obligations to fight GGG after a tune up
Cotto - This is BJS preference, but how realistic is this? He is likely not on Cotto's radar, Cotto may be looking at retirement, and although there would be a belt up for grabs, I can't see Cotto coming over to the UK....could be wrong though?

The only names in the top 20 that seem to make any sense at all are: Eubank Jr, Jacobs (which is unlikely - as Haymon will see BJS as a tough matchup, with limited financial prospects in the US, and will not agree to Jacobs going to UK), or an Andy Lee rematch (which didn't sell well in Manchester, and would be a risky rematch given the closeness on the cards of the first fight).

What do you guys see happening? I just hope that now that he is champ we don't see him dropping down to fighting domestic level matches as world title fights. But even though the division is red-hot, I can't see what the next step will be from a match-making and political point of view...

Thoughts?

 

Thanks for the reply - yeah, but would Canelo (or Golden Boy/Showtime) really risk the big contracted PPV match against GGG for an interim fight against a guy who is unknown in the US and Mexico, and who stylistically could be all wrong for Canelo?

 

BJS is a proper middleweight though - heck, he even fought at LHW not long before the Lee fight. Though, yeah - Cotto is the most likely to come off of the world class opponents, which kinda tells you why I am skeptical over what 'massive, massive fights' FW actually has in store for BJS in 2016.

Some of his questionable views aside, I like BJS - he's seems like an hardworking, honest middleweight. And I actually like his chances in a lot of the top flight matches in the division...but frustratingly I don't fancy the chances of them being made. I was rooting for Lee in their fight,, in part because had he won you know he was gearing towards a Jacobs match, and then GGG. He was also talking about a Quillin rematch at some point. I even think that Cotto would've been sniffing around too, and possibly even Canelo. Even without the belt, I think the likelihood of Lee facing Jacobs, Quillin, or Cotto or Canelo (as their voluntary fights prior to facing each other) is far higher than Saunders facing any of those guys in 2016...so for the good of a hot division I hope that FW makes the fights that Saunders deserves, and doesn't just milk the title with undeserving opponents.