BILLY JOE SAUNDERS flew out to Spain this week to step up his preparations for his upcoming world title bout.
Saunders and trainer Jimmy Tibbs are basing themselves at Macklin’s Gym Marbella (MGM) — the home of Matthew Macklin — ahead of the Englishman’s meeting with WBO middleweight world champion Andy Lee at Thomond Park.
With a strong Irish presence at Macklin’s state-of-the-art gym, Saunders is likely to be training alongside plenty of Lee’s fellow countrymen as he aims to dethrone the Limerick native on Shannonside next month.
It’s not the first time Saunders has used Macklin’s facility. The 25-year-old former Olympian also trained there in advance of his career-best win over Chris Eubank Jr. back in November of last year.
“This is a crucial training camp for me and we’re taking no chances, heading into the biggest fight of my career. I wanted total focus with no distractions so coming to the MGM is ideal for me,” said Saunders.
“When we came out for the Eubank fight, everything was perfect here; the climate, facilities, atmosphere… everything was a winning formula and the result showed in my performance. The only thing was the uncertainty of Eubank turning up to fight me, but in the end I happily handed him his first defeat.
“Andy is is a totally different kettle of fish. He’s a good, good fighter who I respect. After all, he’s the world champion and he’s got the world title that I want. There’s no way at all I’m taking him lightly. I’m over-estimating him so there are no surprises on the night.
“But at the end of the day, we’re getting in the ring and having a fight. He’s a proud fighting man and so am I, and there’s going to be no give between us. We both want to win; it comes down to who wants it more on the night.”
Saunders returned to the ring for a tune-up fight just a fortnight ago. He picked apart Yoann Bloyer before stopping the Frenchman in the fourth round at Wembley Arena.
Saunders said: “I’ve got a fantastic team around me. Having Jimmy’s vast knowledge and experience is a key factor to me winning, as he’s been involved in countless world title fights with the greats of British boxing.
“His son Mark is out here looking after my diet, strength and conditioning, plus I’ve got some of the lads from the gym for sparring, with more coming over.
“There’s six weeks of hard, hard training ahead of me now; mountain and beach runs, gym work, sparring, strength work… it’s going to be absolute hell out here but I’m prepared to go through it all for the glory of being crowned world champion at Thomond Park.”
Tickets for the big fight at Thomond Park on 19 September are available on Ticketmaster, priced from €30.
