BILLY NO MATES
BOXING Murray slams ‘no-show’ Saunders
BILLY JOE SAUNDERS has been blasted by Martin Murray after pulling out of their second proposed fight.
Murray labelled the WBO middleweight champion a ‘d***head’ following his withdrawal with a hamstring injury from next Saturday’s clash.
The fight had already been postponed from April after 28-year-old Saunders sustained a hand injury.
And the cancellation means Murray will now take on Us-based Mexican fighter Roberto Garcia at London’s O2 Arena instead.
The meeting with Murray (right) would have been Saunders’ fourth defence of the title that he won in December 2015 with a victory over fellow Brit Andy Lee.
The champion’s withdrawal from his latest match-up with 35-year-old Murray came amid claims from Gennady Golovkin’s promoter that the Englishman had agreed to fight his man in a title unification bout this August.
But in another twist, Golovkin, the WBA, WBC and IBO middleweight champion from Kazakhstan, has now turned his back on Saunders and will face Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on September 15.
Furious
That’s scuppered any hopes Saunders had of meeting either of those pound-for-pound kings this year.
Murray said: “The first time he pulled out was when we were supposed to fight on April 14. Then he did it again for June 23.
“He said he wasn’t ready the first time, then there was a new date and he was supposed to be training in Fuerteventura.