By Terence Dooley

Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs) defended his WBO middleweight title with a punch perfect decision over Canada’s David Lemieux (now 38-4, 33 early) at the Place Bell venue in Laval, Canada on Saturday night. It was the southpaw’s third defence of the title he won by decisioning Andy Lee in December 2015 and a welcome return to form for “Superb”, who has called for a match against either Gennady Golovkin or Saul Alvarez following the win.

However, with rumours that his two chief targets are working on a rematch of their September 16 draw, Saunders may try to lure another big name into a fight as he seeks to have an impressive 2018. For the moment, though, the 28-year-old is basking in the afterglow of one of his biggest wins and he waxed lyrical about it before the assembled media in London earlier today.

“When he pushed me, I knew his head was gone,” stated Saunders. “I rattled him that much he just wanted to hit me with one big one. He got embarrassed in front his home crowd and home country. The world can see what happened. I got in there and beat him every round.”

“I believe Saunders could’ve stopped him, but we didn’t want to give Lemieux any chance whatsoever,” added Dominic Ingle, the Sheffield-based trainer who has rejuvenated his charge’s form and career. “He needs to get the rounds under his belt and get the confidence.”

“Lemieux is classed as one of the best fighters in the world, but I’ve had harder sparring sessions,” was Saunders’s analysis of the performance. “I got in there, won every round and got out of there with my title. I’m back in love with boxing now, I never thought I would be again. If I want to cheat on my diet the most I can have is a carrot.”

“Or celery,” joked Ingle.

“I can tell that Tyson [Fury] is also back in love with boxing, he is getting the buzz back bit by bit,” revealed Saunders. “He is sending me texts about it. The game needs him back. A fight with [Anthony] Joshua could be the biggest in British boxing history.”

When asked about the possibility of a meeting with Daniel Jacobs on an April date in New York, the former British, Commonwealth and European Champion was dismissive of the New York-based former WBA World title-holder despite the fact that the 30-year-old pushed Golovkin hard en route to a points loss in March.

“What does Daniel Jacobs bring to the table?” he asked. “I’m the champion. I’ve just been to Canada so why would I go to fight in New York, he should come to London. I’m 100% up for either Golovkin or Alvarez.”

“If he does fight Jacobs, it will be on our terms,” stated Frank Warren. “Billy has got the belt.”

Warren took a calculated gamble by agreeing to the away day assignment; he revealed that his faith in Saunders’s latent talent and ability were behind the decision, saying: “For me, Billy was always the standout from the 2008 GB Olympic team. Bill knows what he was to do. He’s fallen back in love with boxing. Next year he can really establish himself.”

He added: “That was the outstanding boxing performance of the year, bar none. It was as good as anything that Floyd Mayweather has done. It was a great performance. America has seen Billy now, so there is no avoiding him. It will be interesting to see if Canelo or Golovkin will take him on. I don’t think Canelo would want to fight Bill.”

With Saunders now back in rude health and form, Warren believes that 2018 will be a big year for his roster of fighters, especially now that they have the backing of both BoxNation and BT Sport.

“We’ve got a big 2018 coming up,” he declared. “Carl Frampton will fight Nonito Donaire in Belfast on April 7 and Lee Selby against Josh Warrington is a done deal.”

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