Billy Joe Saunders is the current WBO middleweight champion and he has a date with Avtandil Khurtsidze on July 8 with his title on the line at the Copper Box Arena.

The 27-year-old southpaw is undefeated thus far in his career and that includes a victory over Chris Eubank Jr, who is also a world champion right now.

After Khurtsidze dealt with Tommy Langford during his last outing, the dreams of an all-British showdown for the title faded and the Georgian shot to the top of the queue to meet the Saunders.

Saunders remains on the horizon for middleweight king Gennady Golovkin who appears determined to unify the division, although their talks for a bout fell through.

However, at the press conference to promote his upcoming clash with Khurtsidze, Saunders said he remains focused on securing a bout with either Golovkin or Saul Alvarez in the future; two men who will meet in September.

However, Saunders is focused on the task at hand and was in a bullish mood during his press conference with Khurtsidze.

In fact, he went on to say that should he lose to the 37-year-old, he will hang up his gloves and he would have "no business" chasing big fights if he couldn't win.

But what he did in the face-off between the pair was much, much stranger.

Hugs aside, Saunders has been with former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in Spain getting in shape for their next fights and he said last month that his heavyweight friend is ready to shock the world - again.

“Tyson is in a very, very good place, everything is back on track.

“Training is going absolutely brilliant, he’s looking faster and sharper than ever. He’s lost 22 pounds in a week. Everything is looking good for him.”

Speaking about the possibility of a clash with unified champion and compatriot Anthony Joshua, Saunders added: “Me and Tyson watched the fight and Tyson is very, very, very confident. He’s extremely confident.

“AJ did well, you can’t take that away from him, he did very, very well. But I think Tyson has got a bit too much for him. Tyson will literally play with him.

“Joshua is a good man, and I think he and Tyson will make history. It’s good for boxing to get this fight on. It’s the fight fans wants to see and I want to see it too."