Billy Joe Saunders insists boxing has not yet seen the best of him and hopes he gets the opportunity to show it in 2019.
Saunders, then WBO middleweight champion, had been set to face Demetrius Andrade when he was denied a license by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission (MSAC) in October due to an "adverse analytical finding" in a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association test.
The 29-year-old relinquished his title to challenge MSAC's decision, before he was last month reinstated in the WBO rankings as the number one contender.
Saunders now wants to show his worth, believing it is time for him to deliver as he enters his peak years.
"When I turned pro, my goal was to become a millionaire and be out of the sport at 31," he told the Evening Standard. "My best asset is my movement. From 29 to 31 you are at your absolute peak. Sometimes that window shuts for people.
"I've done all right but I have been sensible with my money. I have earned more money in property than from boxing. But without boxing, I wouldn't have had the money to invest. I've done alright.
"If I wanted to retire now at 29, I could and still be comfortable. But no one has seen the best of me yet and that's the worrying thing for me; will I ever get that chance?"
He added: "I don't feel the world is against me. I am not important enough for the world to be against me, but people were within their rights to have a little kick when I was down.
"You can do a million things wrong, you can be called all sorts of things, but do something right and sometimes you capture the imagination. In boxing, where you have to do right is inside those ropes. Do that and people will warm to you.
"My goal this year is to show people what I have got. If they like me, they like me. If they don't, I can't control that. I'm doing this for myself and my family."
2023-10-22 17:56:39
