Lee – Saunders postponed for a 2nd time

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the WBO Middleweight title bout between Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders has been postponed for a 2nd time due to a cut suffered by Saunders.

They were originally scheduled to fight Sept. 19 at Thomond Park in Lee’s hometown of Limerick, Ireland, but Lee came down with a virus and postponed the fight. It was rescheduled for Oct. 10 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, but now will have to wait until Saunders’ cut is healed.

“First of all I’m sorry to Andy and all the fans that this fight has had to be postponed again,” Saunders said. “It’s completely unfortunate that I got a cut during a sparring session, but there’s nothing I can do now until the specialist advises me on when I can resume training and fight again.

“I’m committed to this world title fight. I’m the WBO mandatory challenger, and the WBO have confirmed that I’ll remain the mandatory challenger. It’s just a very frustrating situation at the moment as myself and Andy just want to get in the ring and fight after all the delays.”

“Hugely disappointed for myself and for the boxing public,” Lee said. “These things happen. Me and Billy Joe Saunders will get it on when the new date is set.”

Warren said the card still will go on with the two other world title bouts already on the show. Lightweight titleholder Terry Flanagan (28-0, 11 KOs), who is from Manchester, will move into the main event as he makes his first defense, a mandatory, against Las Vegas contender Diego Magdaleno (28-1, 12 KOs). Also, England’s Liam Smith (20-0-1, 10 KOs) will face Newark, New Jersey’s John Thompson (17-1, 6 KOs), a 2015 ESPN Boxcino tournament winner, for a vacant junior middleweight world title.

“It’s a real shame that Billy has been forced out of the fight because of a cut and we await the report from the specialists so that we can look to reschedule the fight as soon as possible for the fans,” Warren said. “Whilst Saunders versus Lee has fallen through, there are two thrilling world title fights on the show with Terry Flanagan facing a dangerous first defense against tough American Diego Magdaleno, and Liam Smith has a big test against American upsetter John Thompson.

“It’s a disappointment, but I’m very optimistic that the show is still one of the best of the year, if not the best, with a top class lineup.”