By Keith Idec

Billy Joe Saunders isn’t impressed by Avtandil Khurtsidze’s muscular frame, and certainly not his boxing ability.

The unbeaten WBO middleweight champion demeaned his mandatory challenger Monday during a press conference to promote their July 8 title fight at Copper Box Arena in London. The brash Brit went as far as to suggest the 5-feet-4 Khurtsidze’s physique is the byproduct of performance-enhancing drugs.

“If you take those muscles away and everything else, he’s probably a featherweight,” Saunders said. “I suppose he’s had a bit of help to put them muscles on. We all know these American trainers. It’s very sophisticated over there. We know they like the ole juice. I think that he’s gonna be chasing shadows all night and he’s gonna eat the jab. And after three or four rounds, he’ll be gassing out. Then I’m gonna step on him and do what I’ve gotta do.

“He’s 37 years old. If I can’t beat him, I just wanna give up and not think about fighting Golovkin and or any Canelos. He’s three years off of 40 and he’s not the best of boxers. I’ve got a 7-year-old son who’s got better boxing tools than what he’s got. And that’s on a serious note.”

The 27-year-old Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) will make just the second defense of the WBO championship he won by beating Ireland’s Andy Lee (35-3-1, 24 KOs) by majority decision nearly 17 months ago in Manchester, England. Even Saunders criticized his poor performance in his first title defense – a unanimous-decision victory over Russia’s Artur Akavov (17-2, 7 KOs) on December 3 in Paisley, Scotland.

Saunders predicted he’ll have no such struggles against Khurtsidze (32-2-2, 22 KOs), a native of Georgia whom Saunders repeatedly mocked during Monday’s press conference.

“I’ll translate that – he’s gonna get beat and get paid,” said Saunders, who interrupted Khurtsidze’s translator. “That’s the translation there because, like I said, I’m not trying to take anything away from him by being rude to him. But he’s not a middleweight, to be honest with you. Yes, I’m very big. I come down from light heavy/cruiser to middleweight. He’s coming up, without the muscles, [from] about seven stone to 11½ [98 pounds to 160].”

When a moderator attempted to ask Khurtsidze another question, Saunders interjected.

“What is he gonna do, ask him, when he’s seven rounds down, blown out of his ass and can’t hold his hands up to his face?,” Saunders said. “You’re only here for money. You’re only here for money.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.