KSI vs Logan Paul rematch: Billy Joe Saunders on making mistakes, stealing YouTubers’ show and Eddie Hearn’s ‘extra little Christmas present’

While Logan Paul and KSI are boxing professionally in Los Angeles on Saturday night due to their propensity to upload video footage to the internet, Billy Joe Saunders will take his place amid the madness despite his own.

An Olympian in his teens, winner of Commonwealth, European and two world titles as a professional, Saunders is undoubtedly one of the best British boxers of his generation. That talent and level of achievement, however, is not always recognised by those outside of the sport’s so-called hardcore fraternity.

What the undefeated 30-year-old has become better known for on a more mainstream level is his conduct outside of the ring, particularly a series of social media posts which he now describes as ‘stupid’.

In one such video, for which he was charged with misconduct by the British Boxing Board of Control, he encouraged what was described as a local drug addict to strike an innocent bystander for being a ‘paedophile’. That was just one miserable low point of a year which also included a failed drugs test which eventually cost him his WBO middleweight world title.

But Saunders is world champion again, by virtue of his May victory over Shefat Isufi at Stevenage Borough’s Lamex Stadium, which was enough to clinch the same sanctioning body’s super-middleweight belt.

He has since amicably split with long-term promoter Frank Warren, crossed the divide and joined forces with Eddie Hearn. Saturday’s showdown with little-known Argentinean Marcelo Esteban Coceres at Staples Center will be his first fight on the deal, his first defence of the title and also his American debut.

Bookmakers believe the 1/100 Saunders is almost guaranteed to win but Saunders sees the contest as an opportunity to continue the renovation job on his image.

“You’re paid to learn by your mistakes and I made a lot of mistakes in my career,” he said. “But you pay to learn so it’s all about putting them right now.

“I want to be known for the right reasons and not for the wrong reasons.”

It has been suggested that a boxer of Saunders’ stature should not be playing second-fiddle to professional debutants like KSI or Logan Paul but he does not seem to care.

“From my understanding of a boxing event,” he continues. “When people talk about undercard or chief-support, that’s bulls*** to me, the best fight of the night steals the show. That’s what I’ve always thought.

“When they say ‘you’re top of the bill’ that’s bollocks to me, you know your opponent and your purse long before the show so whether you are top or bottom, as long as I get out there and show the Americans what I can do, I will be happy.

“There is no point me going out for a 4,000-seater show as the main event when I can be on a 20,000 sell-out in LA like this. The press conference alone got around 10m views on YouTube so if i can turn five or 10 per cent of that into my fans, I will be laughing. I will be established in America and giving myself a much better chance of getting a fight against someone like Gennady Golovkin or Canelo [Alvarez].

“I’m over the moon to be on this card, my career will escalate from the ground to the sky now. I don’t care who I fight, walking out to a packed crowd lifts you as a fighter. You embrace it and you go off the energy.

“I like to feel the wall against my back, that’s what fires me up a bit. I want to impress because it’s my debut for Matchroom on DAZN and Sky Sports. I want to impress.

“If I go and put on an unbelievable performance and look good, those Americans are going to remember who I am for when I come back again.

“Eddie told me I would get an extra few quid for boxing on this show, an extra little Christmas present or another meal. But I am honestly looking forward to it.”

In fact, the presence of Logan Paul and KSI, who have a combined total of 40 million YouTube subscribers, will ensure Saunders pockets one of the biggest purses of his 10-year career to date. Unsurprisingly, the two-weight champion appears to be a new fan of the duo.

He said: “I had never heard of KSI or Paul but people should take their hat off to them, They have come from nowhere. They have 24 hours in their day just like everyone else but they’ve put themselves on a platform where everyone is talking about them and they are now doing unbelievable business.

“I often feel the best fights come from people like this who probably don’t know 100 per cent what they’re doing so when Eddie [Hearn] says he predicts a knockout, I believe him.”

The pair drew when they fought at a sold out Manchester Arena in a white collar encounter back in August 2018. They have since been licensed professionally meaning that Saturday’s six-round clash will be contested in 10oz gloves and without headguards.

Hearn said: “These guys are going to take risks and chances but they have hardly got any respect for stepping through the ropes. If I was walking out in front of 20,000 people I would be s***ing myself.

“They don’t know what they’re letting themselves in for and once they get hit, all the training will go out of the window.

“Who knows where this is going to go? I would like to tell you this is a one-off, but ask me on November 10.”

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