Boxing – Billy Joe Saunders can take European middleweight title this weekend

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Tyson Fury v Dereck Chisora 2 has been cancelled due to the latter’s injury, and Fury will instead fight Alexander Ustinov, but Billy Joe Saunders attempt to win the European middleweight title has always been of great interest on Box Nation’s July 26th card from the Phones 4 U Arena in Manchester, England, and we’ve got it covered here at TVBet.

A former Olympian and boxer of great pedigree, Saunders (1/6, Betfred) amassed a staggering record of 49 senior amateur wins in a row on his way to winning the 2007 Commonwealth Championships and 2008 Strandya cup.

After making the decision to turn pro in December 2008, Billy Joe singed with promoter Frank Warren and has since compiled a professional record of 19 -0-0, with ten stoppages.

Saunders is the current British and Commonwealth middleweight title holder and is expected to be a future world champion, with a possible fight against WBO kingpin Peter Quillin muted down the line.

Of course, Saunders will need to beat Emanuel Blandamura (6/1, Stan James) for the vacant European middleweight championship this weekend first, and we can’t ignore the fact that the Italian is undefeated and obviously rated as a decent fighter.

However, at 34 years of age and having mostly fought in Italy throughout his career, Blandamura looks to have been well protected in terms of matchmaking and has not evolved into the type of top-five fighter that would have won far more than the lightly regarded WBC Mediterranean and Silver middleweight belts at this stage of his career.

In conclusion, I expect Billy Joe Saunders to be able to outclass an opponent that doesn’t have the same pedigree and hasn’t fought a fighter this skilled before, but at 1/6 we have to look elsewhere for a bet.

Given that the British fighter has won five of his last six bouts on points, coupled with the fact that Blandamura has only won five of his 22 contests within the distance, the Hatfield man to cruise to a scorecard victory looks like the most sensible bet on offer at 8/11 with Paddy Power.

Recommendation: Saunders Points Win (8/11, Paddy Power)