SLIM
Billy Joe Saunders emulated Tyson Fury with stunning body transformation as he turned his career around to finally secure Canelo Alvarez fight
Billy Joe Saunders looked a million miles away from competing with boxing's best when he fought Artur Akavov at a Scottish Leisure Centre in 2016.
Just a year on from his glorious world title win over Andy Lee, Saunders was a self-described 'disgrace' as he laboured to a win in his first defence.
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The Brit spent a year out of the ring between the two bouts due to numerous injuries, postponements and cancellations affecting his plans.
He ballooned up in weight during this period and a snapshot of him looking heavier than ever while trying to get back in fighting shape circulated on social media.
By the time the Akavov fight came around, Saunders just about made the 160lbs limit and did not lose his belt on the scales.
However, he'd not made the weight well and this clearly impacted his performance
Billy Joe underwhelmed against the overmatched opponent, ending up in a genuinely close fight with a man not close to his level.
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When the scorecards were read out in favour of Saunders, there was a collective sigh of relief from his team. Some observers even felt he lost.
"There was nothing there," the honest fighter admitted in his interview straight away.
"I’ve been out a year, overweight. A few adjustments to camp. Just flat, really, really flat.
"I’d like to apologise to the fans, especially those who paid for it. Terrible performance."
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Saunders needed to go away and regroup, and this is exactly what he did.
Prior to the Akavov debacle, he'd split with trainer Jimmy Tibbs and brought in a young unknown coach named Ben Davison to head his corner at late notice.
This was the first time Davison - who is now a well-renowned trainer for his work with Tyson Fury - took the reigns for anybody in a world title fight.
Saunders opted for a fresh start after the poor performance though and linked up with Dominic Ingle in Sheffield.
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He then turned his fitness regime around and began to train as a serious athlete.
In his first fight under Ingle, Saunders won a comfortable decision over Willie Monroe Jr. The performance wasn't perfect, but a vast improvement.
Then he was set for a mandatory defence against dangerous puncher David Lemieux on away turf in Canada.
Nobody was in doubt that if the Saunders who fought Akavov a year prior turned up, Lemieux would surely win by KO.
However, if the version of Billy Joe who conquered Lee two years before appeared, then Lemieux may be in trouble.
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As it happened, neither of those men were present.
Instead, a new, fully-fit, better-than-ever Saunders surfaced and put in one of the all-time great performances by a British fighter on foreign soil.
Billy Joe boxed and moved beautifully for 12 rounds, barely getting hit whatsoever as he frustrated and humiliated Lemieux in front of his home supporters.
It was a shutout victory and a statement to the middleweight elite, as the reinvigorated Saunders boldly called out Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin in his interview.
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Since then, his career has had further peaks and troughs both in and out of the ring.
Now though, he appears to have things back on track once again under the guidance of Mark Tibbs.
A solid win over Martin Murray in December was followed by Eddie Hearn finalising the biggest fight of Saunders' career against Canelo Alvarez on May 8.
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The images from camp in Las Vegas show that Billy Joe is once more in immaculate condition.
He will need to be if he is to stand any chance of dethroning the pound-for-pound king.
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