Promoter Eddie Hearn is concerned about whether former world super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders will step inside a boxing ring ever again.
Saunders has not fought since being stopped by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2021 and there has been no indication that a comeback is on the cards.
With Chris Eubank Jr. once again calling out Saunders for a second fight, could this be enough to bring the latter out of this prolonged period of inactivity?
Hearn certainly thinks so, but before a comeback fight for Saunders can be confirmed, he needs to see commitment from the 34-year-old to lace up the gloves once more.
"I hope so. Billy Joe is a tremendous fighter, but every day that passes is a day that makes it less likely...it’s a long time out of the ring but the biggest problem for Billy is — it’s a double edged sword — he’ll want to say ‘well give me a date and give me a plan’ and we will want to say or someone else will say ‘well you got to show us that you’re eight or nine weeks away’ because I don’t want to book the venue, book everything, and you pull up in training," Hearn told iFL TV.
“Like he can’t probably get focused without the date, without the opponent, like a lot of fighters. So I would like to see Billy take himself away and do a seven or eight week pre-camp to his real camp, come back and say ‘look, I’m here, let’s go.’"
While Eubank Jr. may not be facing Saunders next, he will be returning to action on October 12 when he faces Kamil Szeremeta on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.
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