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Watch Billy Joe Saunders Vs. Artur Akavov Boxing Match Live Online: Start Time, Streaming Video Link For Saturday’s Title Bout

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 08:13 PST, Dec 3, 2016

Boxing fans can watch the Billy Joe Saunders vs. Artur Akavov match live online and see if the long-awaited match can deliver for fans.

Saturday’s bout is months in the making, with with an injury to Saunders forcing the fight to be postponed three times. It will be almost a full year since Saunders last stepped into the ring, and he will now try to defend his WBO middleweight title against Akavov.

The match is set to start at 10 p.m. GMT (5 p.m. ET) on Saturday from the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Scotland. The match will be available on television both in the U.K. and internationally and will also be available live online for those unable to make it to a television (a link to the streaming can be found below).

As Bleacher Report noted, the match — and the setting, tucked away in Scotland — might not inspire a lot of interest outside of boxing circles. Saunders defeated Andy Lee in December 2015 to become WBO champion, but the report noted that it was far from a barn burner.

“Saunders frustrates and delights in equal measure. He won the British, Commonwealth and European titles before becoming a world champion and, at the age of 27, should now be entering his prime,” the report noted. “And yet, 2016 has seen his career stuck in neutral. No one should complain about the Bursak bout being cancelled, considering the Ukrainian barely deserved to be in a world-title fight.

“Akavov hardly sets the pulses rating either, but things could have been vastly different for Saunders, who can dazzle for periods of a fight before frustratingly taking spells off.”

Saunders had to withdraw from a planned match against Artur Akavov in October for a fight in Cardiff, Wales. The fight had originally been scheduled for October 29 in the undercard of the rematch between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko. After that fight was canceled, Saunders vs. Akavov was moved to October 22 instead.

Now, more than a month later, the two will finally meet in Scotland.

But fans who watch the Billy Joe Saunders vs. Artur Akavov boxing match live online could see the final step before one of boxing’s biggest fights in 2017. Saunders holds the middleweight fight that Gennady Golovkin is missing, and GGG appears to be the next target for Saunders.

“One thing I absolutely guarantee is that I will not worry before I get in the ring like all Golovkin’s previous opponents,” Saunders told Box Nation. “I’ll fight till the very last downing. Obviously it’ll take a better performance than I’ve shown yet but I know I’ve got that in me.”

In fact, Billy Joe Saunders is already talking about how he might defeat GGG, even ahead of his bout with Akavov. In an interview this week, Saunders discussed how he might be able to break up the rhythm of the undefeated Kazakh fighter.

“I’m not stupid,” Saunders said (via the Mirror). “I know I can’t beat Golovkin physically in a trade-up.

“I can beat him by being smart and cute, breaking his rhythm, establishing my own. And let me tell you, if Kell Brook could catch him, I can catch him. And, with those small gloves, any fighter can cut and bust up their opponent if they land often enough.”

But first Saunders must make it past the Brooklyn-based Russian fighter, which is far from a foregone conclusion. Akavov is a perfect 10-0 in his last 10 bouts, and many experts believe he will have a shot to steal Saunders’s title on Saturday.

Those who want to watch the Billy Joe Saunders vs. Artur Akavov boxing match live online can find streaming video at BoxNation.

[Featured Image by Murad Sezer/AP Images]

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