British WBO middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders has gone against the verdict of the majority of the boxing world that last weekend’s bout between Canelo Álvarez and Gennady Golovkin was a far closer encounter than people are making out.

The bout between Canelo and Golovkin, which took place in Las Vegas, was the eagerly anticipated rematch between two boxers who had previously fought to an unsatisfactory split draw decision, back in September 2017.

The verdict of that fight caused controversy amongst boxing fans globally, who felt that Golovkin had done enough to secure a majority decision.

Arguably, the decision to award Canelo with a victory on points this time around has caused even more of an uproar. Many pundits and fans were outraged by the decision, again claiming that Golovkin had done enough to be victorious.

“It was close,” Saunders told talkSPORT. “When you’re champion you can’t just get pipped at the post, you’ve really got to get it took off you in my opinion.”

Most boxing fans can agree it was an extremely tough bout but giving Canelo the win is causing the divide.

Even Saunders does suggest, judging on the first fight and its outcome, Golovkin was somewhat unlucky to lose this one.

“I personally think that, take the belts away, you could flip a coin and you couldn’t really argue. But with Golovkin being champion, you can say maybe that warranted a draw more than the first one.”

Despite this, the unbeaten British middleweight, with a record of 26 wins from 26 bouts, refutes any claim that it was an obvious Golovkin victory.

“It is what it is. It’s boxing at the end of the day, it wasn't a blatant robbery,” states Saunders, who may target a clash against Canelo himself. “It was a close fight and you can’t really cry over it, put it that way.”

Saunders will now be looking ahead to his October showdown with Demetrius Andrade at the TD Garden, in Boston. Given the debate the judges have caused at the weekend, he’ll be hoping for a more clearcut victory in his fight.