Billy Joe Saunders in talks with Frank Warren over boxing return

Former two-weight world champion Billy Joe Saunders is reportedly in talks with Queensberry supremo Frank Warren regarding a potential return to the ring after four years out of action.

Speaking to talkSPORT from ringside at the Anthony Cacace v Leigh Wood fight at the Nottingham Arena on Saturday 10th May, Queensberry promoter Warren said:

He [Saunders] came up to see me a couple of weeks ago and we had a chat, after a couple of fights [at light-heavyweight] he feels he can get down [to super-middleweight].

Previously claiming the WBO strap at both middleweight and super-middleweight level, 35-year-old Saunders' last professional contest came against the great Canelo Alvarez in Arlington, Texas in May 2021 - retiring on his stool after the eighth round.

A fighter with a Travelling background, Saunders has gained a lot of weight since his bruising defeat to Mexican Canelo four years ago, telling The Ring Magazine he reached 18 stone at his heaviest.

A former Olympian for Great Britain having competed in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, losing in the second round, Saunders is determined to get his life back on track with a return to boxing.

Saunders told The Ring Magazine: "It's more a case of needing to do it for myself rather than anything else, including world titles.

"My biggest goal would be to become a three-weight world champion but let's just get back to fighting and then see where we are."

Should Saunders make a successful return to the sport, a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr has been mooted as a possibility.

The domestic rivals first met in November 2014, with Saunders edging a close encounter via split decision.

There remains hostility between the pair to this day, with Saunders recently filmed attempting to enter Eubank Jr's dressing room to check his gloves ahead of his blockbuster clash with Conor Benn at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April.

Eubank Jr has since admitted that Saunders is on his hit list as he approaches the end of his career, with Hall of Fame promoter Warren stating that this fight is a possibility in the future.

Warren told iFL TV: "It makes a lot of sense if they were going to do one, I mean that's the natural fight."

James Wilson

• Queensberry
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