Welcome to Fightful's live coverage of the WBO middleweight title fight between champion Billy Joe Saunders and challenger Willie Monroe Jr. The winner not only walks away with the WBO world title, but also becomes one of the favorites to become the next opponent for the winner of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight later tonight.
We'll be bringing you live results of the entire card, which includes quick recaps of the undercard and full, round-by-round coverage of the main event. The main event will be shown here live on Fightful.com in the live stream at the top of the page.
Here is the main card (Fightful.com, 5:30 p.m. ET):
- Billy Joe Saunders defeated Willie Monroe Jr. to retain the WBO World Middleweight Title via unanimous decision (117-111, 115-114, 117-112)
Here is the untelevised undercard:
- Anthony Yarde (c) defeated Norbert Nemesapati to retain the WBO European Light Heavyweight Title and win the Vacant WBO Intercontinental Light Heavyweight Title via RTD, Round 3
- Archie Sharp defeated Imre Nagy via KO, Round 2
- Hamzah Sheeraz defeated Duane Green via TKO, Round 2
- Zak Chelli defeated Adam Jones via PTS
- Daniel Dubois defeated AJ Cartervia KO, Round 1 to win the Vacant BBBofC Southern Area Heavyweight Title
- Ryan Hatton defeated Jack Davies via KO, Round 3
- Lerrone Richards defeated Ferenc Albert via PTS
- Umar Sadiq defeated Lewis van Poetsch via PTS
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MAIN CARD:
Billy Joe Saunders (c) vs. Willie Monroe Jr: WBO World Middleweight Title Bout
Round 1: Saunders starts attacking the body with the jab. Both men trade jabs early in the round, but Monroe picks up the pace a little bit. The two fighters are being cautious in the early stages. Monroe throws a couple of jabs upstairs, but then Saunders lands a good left hand in response. The two fighters clinched after Saunders moves forward. Saunders has Monroe in the corner and is throwing a few body shots, but Monroe gets out of trouble.
Fightful scored round 1 for Saunders 10-9
Round 2: Both men throw jabs to start the round, but neither could land much. Monroe tries to attack the body with the lead jab, but Saunders steps out of danger each time. Saunders lands another good left hand and Monroe has his back on the ropes. The two fighters clinch once more. Saunders lands a solid right uppercut to Monroe, who was moving back into a corner. Monroe lands a right jab to Saunders' jaw. Monroe tries to fight back, but doesn't do much against Saunders.
Fightful scored round 2 for Saunders 10-9
Round 3: Monroe dodges a lead right hand from Saunders. Saunders is on the offensive for a while, throwing more lead rights. Saunders lands another right jab to Monroe and Monroe connects two jabs of his own. Both men trade shots left and right for a second, but neither man could land a hard punch. Saunders is pressuring Monroe with several lead rights. In a clinch, Saunders lands a short left body hook to Monroe. Saunders hurts Monroe at the end of the round and ends the round with a flurry of offense.
Fightful scored round 3 for Saunders 10-9
Round 4: Saunders is pressuring Monroe with great footwork and jabs. Saunders has a cut near his right eye and blood is pouring out of the cut. Both men trade blows and then clinch. Monroe throws several wild shots, but they barely connect. Saunders lands another short, lead right as the round ends.
Fightful scored round 4 for Monroe Jr. 10-9
Round 5: The two fighters trade several shots to start, but then both men go back to being idle like in the first couple of rounds. The two men clinch. After the clinch, Saunders has Monroe on the ropes and is hurting him. Monroe misses a counter left by a country mile! Both men are back in the center of the ring and Saunders lands another lead right jab. Monroe starts to pressure with a left jab that barely connects. The two fighters don't really throw much in the final 15 seconds of the round.
Fightful scored round 5 for Saunders 10-9
Round 6: Neither man throws a punch for the first 30 seconds of the round. Saunders finally lands a right jab to get the action going here in this round. There is a lot of clinching in this round. In one particular clinch, Saunders lands a short, left hook upstairs. Monroe lands a lead left hand and Saunders then gets a left hand in. Late in the round, the two men exchange a lot of punches, but nothing too hard landed on either fighter.
Fightful scored round 6 for Monroe 10-9
Round 7: The round starts off immediately in the clinch, but then Saunders starts attacking with a few jabs. Saunders is throwing a few combinations and quickly moves out of danger as soon as he is done. The two fighters exchange jabs. Monroe now lands a lead right jab and Saunders fires back one of his own. There's some excitement for a quick second when Monroe is on the ropes, but all that really happened was Saunders and Monroe getting another clinch. Monroe lands a good body shot to the champion. Saunders has Monroe on the ropes, trying to minimize any damage caused by Saunders' power shots.
Fightful scored round 7 for Saunders 10-9
Round 8: Monroe is using fancy footwork to get out of danger, but Saunders gets a lot of power shots in early on. Monroe then tries to land some power punches of his own, but Saunders moves out of the way. The two fighters clinch once more. Saunders then tries to attack Monroe's body once more. Saunders lands more power shots to Monroe and has the challenger on the ropes. Easily Saunders' best round of the fight.
Fightful scored round 8 for Saunders 10-9
Round 9: Saunders starts off the round on the attack again, but we then see more clinching as a result. Saunders and Monroe get tangled up and Monroe goes down to the mat, but it is not ruled a knockdown. Monroe has his back to the ropes and Saunders is pressuring again. Monroe is moving across the ring, gaining some distance on the champion, but is not throwing anything to try and win the round.
Fightful scored round 9 for Saunders 10-9
Round 10: Championship rounds with more clinching. Monroe keeps moving across the ring while Saunders is trying to give chase and throwing several jabs. Saunders lands a short left hook upstairs and Saunders has Monroe on the ropes once more. Saunders keeps throwing several power shots. Even though they are not all landing on Monroe, it is still creating pressure for the challenger.
Fightful scored round 10 for Saunders 10-9
Round 11: Monroe starts off to clinch, but is still not doing anything to win the round. Saunders is outworking Monroe in the past few rounds. Monroe is now starting to get serious and throws a wide right hook. Saunders lands a short 1-2 combo upstairs and Monroe unleashes a flurry of body shots and Saunders says he's unaffected. Saunders lands a left jab and then Monroe throws a sweeping left hand. Saunders connects with a short right body uppercut.
Fightful scored round 11 for Monroe 10-9
Round 12: Monroe goes to the body early but Saunders then clinches. Monroe lands another good body shot and is looking much better compared to the halfway point of this fight. Monroe is making Saunders miss several of his power punches. Saunders is now the one on the move and Monroe is chasing to attack Saunders. Monroe lands a hard right jab to Saunders' jaw. Not a lot of action here to end the fight.
Fightful scored round 12 for Monroe 10-9, making it 116-112 for Saunders
Official Result: Billy Joe Saunders defeated Willie Monroe Jr. to retain the WBO World Middleweight Title Bout via unanimous decision (117-111, 115-114, 117-112)
