The family will cherish these moments for a lifetime…
Much is made of the relationship between Floyd Mayweather Sr. and his son, but they don’t have anything on BJ Saunders and his kid. Floyd Sr. may have taught Jr. how to fight at an early age, but Saunders’ kid has already landed a shot on a title contending fighter. It normally takes boxers years, even decades, to gain such experience.
Saunders’ kid pulled a WWE style run-in at the BJ Saunders vs. Willie Monroe weigh-in today, striking Monroe square in the nether regions. Some are even speculating that the move was pre-planned by Saunders’ camp, or at least father and son.
BJ Saunders vs. Willie Monroe
The 28-year-old Billie Joe Saunders is 24-0 and looking to defend his WBO middleweight championship for the second time when he takes on Monroe tomorrow in London. No statistics were readily available for his son, but so far his connect rate is 100%.
Monroe is 21-2 with his last loss coming to GGG (Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin) in 2015. He’s won his last two fights, including winning the vacant WBO Intercontinental Middleweight belt with a win over Gabriel Rosado a year ago.
Boxer’s Kid Goes Right For the Groin
Saunders vs. Monroe headlines a night of fights in London’s Copper Box Arena tomorrow night. The co-feature for the night is Norbert Nemesapati vs. Anthony Yarde for the WBO European Light Heavyweight Intercontinental Title. Also on the card will be Joe Pigford taking on Kieran Smith for the WBO European Super Welterweight Title.
With a win on Saturday, Saunders could be looking to face the winner of Canelo vs. GGG next. This would provide an opportunity for his son to get some shots in on an even higher profile opponent.
VIDEO: BJ saunders sends his kid to Hit Willie Monroe in the nuts 🥜 at their weigh in. #SaundersMonroe pic.twitter.com/lj6ojuL5w1
— BoxingHypeStore.com (@BoxingHype) September 15, 2017
Saunders and Monroe Respond
Willie Monroe seems disheartened with the treatment he has received in London. He posted this to his Instagram after the incident:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZEFtr5HyMO/?hl=en&taken-by=willie_elmongoose_monroejr
Well, I mean he does have some points there. Boxers can’t just have their children hit their opponents in the groin. There should be rules in place to prevent such incidents.
As for Saunders, he offered up the following explanation for his son’s actions:
My sons been taught when A stranger puts their hands on them they don't know punch and run away self defence @boxnationtv @frankwarren_tv👍🏻
— billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) September 15, 2017
Fair enough. That’s solid parenting on Billy Joe’s part aside from the fact that he also brought his kid on stage with him during the weigh-ins. If you’ve trained your offspring to punch strangers then perhaps you shouldn’t be bringing them onto crowded podiums.
The other factor to consider here is that his kid was clearly aiming at Monroe’s groin. Is it out of the question that his kid was thinking he might just try and soften up his father’s upcoming opponent?
