Billy Joe Saunders will admit that he has been guilty of piling on too much weight in between fights.
Saunders is one of those fighters who has been known to indulge and enjoy himself when he is not in camp and he’s looked out of shape in the past, prompting jabs about his weight from his middleweight rivals.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez claims he didn’t recognise Saunders in the summer, insisting that: “He needs to lose some weight before he can even think about fighting one of us.”
The undefeated WBO middleweight champion has been as high as 16 stone in his time but, credit to him, he always shows incredible commitment when it comes to getting into fight shape.
Ahead of his upcoming title defence against David Lemieux on December 16, Saunders has been showing off his impressive physique and, when looked at alongside a photograph of an unfit Saunders, it looks like two completely different people.
What a difference a bit of motivation and eating properly can do for someone. @bjsaunders_ @dominicingle @MTKGlobal pic.twitter.com/i2vUOMETS4
— Boxing Polls (@BoxingPolls111) November 17, 2017
Trainer Dominic Ingle has played a huge role in lighting a fire under Saunders and espousing the importance of remaining in peak physical condition.
Prior to his last bout, a unanimous decision victory over Willie Monroe Jr. in London, Saunders faced questions about how he managed to shed the weight and admitted that he’d turned the corner.
“The way people are: ‘your body can’t change like that, your body can’t do this, your body can’t do that’,” Saunders said, via Metro.
https://twitter.com/bjsaunders_/status/930786759616729088
“But if you’re locked away for 13 weeks religiously eating, drinking certain amounts a day, supplements, training three times a day, then if you’re not in that shape then obviously you’re not sticking to it, you’ve not been doing it.
“The problem with me is I’ve always trained hard but I’ve always been ‘a little bit of pizza,’ bang I’ll eat that. It’s always been that way with me.
“I’m mature. I’ve never been in this shape. It’s all part of learning, making mistakes, learning from them and I’ve learned from them. I’m in good shape now, I’m planning on keeping it.”
It certainly seems like he’s kept that promise.
