By Ian S Palmer
The vacant European Middleweight title will be up for grabs in Manchester, England this Saturday, July 26 when unbeaten Billy Joe Saunders of England takes on the undefeated 34-year-old Emanuele Blandamura of Italy at the Phones 4U Arena. The 12-round bout can be caught live in Britain on BoxNation. If the 24-year-old Saunders, who is currently the Commonwealth and British Champion, manages to win the bout it’s been reported that he’ll earn a shot at WBO Champ Peter Quillin of America or IBF titleholder Sam Soliman of Australia.
Saunders will enter the ring with a record of 19-0 along with 10 Kos while Blandamura is 22-0 with just 5 Kos. Saunders is one of the best young middleweight prospects around and has been brought along gradually. He needs to beat a few top contenders before facing any of the world’s elite middleweights such as Quillin, WBA and IBO Champion Gennady Golovkin, WBC king Miguel Cotto, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Saunders admitted that he’s not quite ready to fight the likes of Golovkin, but said he likes his chances with all the other middleweights out there, especially the 40-year-old Soliman, Cotto and Quillin.
However, since Saunders is basically unknown outside of Britain, we could see him taking on Chris Eubank Jr. in the near-future in what would be a big-money British showdown much like the George Groves vs Carl Froch rematch in May. That bout was held outside at London’s famous Wembley Stadium and drew a live gate of about 80,000. Saunders and Eubank, who is the son of former boxer Chris Eubank, have been going at it via Twitter recently and hopefully that will lead to a meeting in the ring. Saunders is a fine boxer and his style is pleasing on the eye, but he’s fought mainly European opponents and has yet to step up in class.
Taking on a 34-year-old relatively unknown Italian won’t help him put in that respect, but at least he has the chance of becoming the European champion. Blandamura should be given some credit for getting this far in his career without a loss on his record even though he hasn’t really beaten anybody of note. His last bout was a split-decision victory against Marcos Nader back in January. Saunders is a southpaw and former Olympian who fought in the 2008 Games in Beijing, China. He last fought against John Ryder in September of 2013 and came away with a unanimous decision.
Prediction
Blandamura stands 5-feet-10 inches which makes him an inch shorter than Saunders. He has some good boxing skills, but as his record shows doesn’t have much at all in the way of power. This may enable Saunders to walk right through his punches. Blandamura will probably last as long as his chin allows him. This means if he’s got a solid beard he’ll go the distance and lose a decision. If his chin is as weak as his power then Saunders will stop him. Either way, Saunders should be the new European Middleweight Champion by the end of the fight.
