But as an amateur, the highest level you can box at is the Olympics. I did that at 18 and felt it was time to move on to other challenges as a professional.

Saunders made his professional debut on 28 February 2009 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham against Attila Molnar. He was subsequently suspended for "lewd behaviour" allegedly pertaining to an incident with a local woman during a pre-season training camp in France. He beat European champion Andrey Balanov and Kakhaber Zhvania he lost his semi to Oleksandr Stretskyy before beating the Slovakian Pavol Hlavacka for the all-important third spot.

Billy Joe Saunders (born 30 August 1989) is a British boxer who qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after a distinguiBilly Joe Saundersd amateur career. He is the current Commonwealth and British champion in the middleweight division and currently remains undefeated as a professional.