Top 12 Unbeaten British Boxers

6: Billy Joe Saunders

Record: 19-0, 10 KOs
Division: middleweight
height: 5′ 11″
Age: 24
From: Hertfordshire
Pro Debut: February 2009
Pro Achievements: Current British and Commonwealth champion

Billy Joe Saunders. The British and Commonwealth middleweight champion remains unbeaten and on course to enter European and international level in the next year or two. Last year he recorded wins over Matthew Hall, Gary O’ Sullivan and the dangerous unbeaten John Ryder, taking his record to 19-0, with 10KOs. 2014 needs to be the breakout year now for Saunders, but injuries have recently stalled his promising rise. Saunders pulled out of a fight in December because of a hand injury and is now out of Frank Warren’s CopperBox Arena show in February because of injuries and its looking like we wont see Saunders back in the ring now until April. He needs to get a move on and put his great potential to work, because this is a boxer who is held in high regard and is tipped by many knowledgeable fight folk to make it to the top, now is the time to step him up, but the question is can Saunders, who is trained by the father son team of Jimmy and Mark Tibbs, rise to the challenge? There is nothing to suggest he can’t. There is talk of a meeting with James DeGale in the pipeline and his team were looking to make that fight, but DeGale has other plans for now and that is unlikely to happen this year. The bad vibes between himself and upcoming prospect Chris Eubank Jnr have put some weight to a fight between the pair, but in fairness at this stage it would be a step back for Saunders and a huge chance for the novice Eubank, it is a fight that would create interest, but not one for now. A match with European champion Emanuele Blandamura would seem like a good target for Saunders. The unbeaten Italian defeated Austrian Marcos Nader recently and Saunders vs the unbeaten Blandamura (22-0, 5KOs) makes sense. The middleweight scene in Britain has been dominated for the last few years by Darren Barker, Martin Murray and Matthew Macklin and Saunders has been trail blazing them but now he is in pole position to start mixing in that class and with Barker recently retiring, Saunders is capable of filling the void. Certainly a boxer to watch, he comes to fight every time, knows how to win and it will take a special fighter to derail his road to world honours. Billy Joe Saunders on Twitter: @bjsaunders_