WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders has joined back up with trainer Mark Tibbs. The two-weight champion had been coached by Tibbs' father, Jimmy, for the first half of his career.  Saunders, a 31 year-old southpaw, was trained by Mark’s father, Jimmy, from the moment he turned professional in 2009, and Tibbs Sr. was there when he won the WBO middleweight title in 2015 against Andy Lee. Saunders then fought Artur Akavov in 2016 to successfully defend his title, but did so without Tibbs Sr. Saunders then went through a series of trainers: Ben Davison, Danny Vaughan, Adam Booth and Dominic Ingle all had spells with the 2008 Olympic bronze medal winner, but he has now returned to the Tibbs family.

 

Saunders had just one fight in 2019 and none in 2020, defeating only [the lightly regarded] Marcelo Coceres last September. A proposed fight against Canelo Alvarez has since fallen apart due to the coronavirus pandemic. He has now joined back up with the Tibbs family, with the younger trainer now going from his father’s assistant to step up as trainer for Saunders.

 

 Press Release courtesy of DAZN, written by Alexander Netherton