By Edward Chaykovsky

WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KO) is looking forward to a very big year.

Last month, Saunders snapped a one-year layoff with a twelve round decision over Artur Akavov. The fight was much tougher than Saunders - or anyone else - would have predicted. It was Saunders' first world title defense since stunning Andy Lee in December 2015 to capture the belt.

Looking ahead, Saunders wants to fight IBO, WBA, WBC, IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Both Canelo and GGG are already contracted for big fights.

Golovkin will make a mandatory defense against Daniel Jacobs on March 18th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, while Canelo is moving up to a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds for a showdown with fellow Mexican star Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Saunders holds the last remaining piece of the middleweight title puzzle. If Canelo can capture it, he will gain even more bargaining power over Golovkin - and the same can be said for Golovkin if he's holding every single title in the weight class. Those circumstances make Saunders a very valuable player - as long as he holds the WBO title.

"I am the WBO middleweight champion and people should be knocking at my door - but all of these big fighters have already got fights penciled in. I know they want to, but they can't just drop them - even though I know they want to. Because for Golovkin, I've got the only belt that he hasn't got. And for Canelo, he's looking to make a big fight with Golovkin and my belt would add fire to that sort of fight," Saunders told BT Sport.

"But people need to realize that these fighters must get through me. I'm not just here because I make the numbers up. I'm a champion and I got a champion's heart. I think with my team, especially now with Adam Booth, I could beat all of them."