Gabriel Rosado: Billy Joe Saunders holding the title hostage

Gabriel Rosado finds himself back in a pretty good position as he's set to take on Willie Monroe Jr. on the Canelo-Smith card, with the winner being set up to possibly take on the winner of Canelo-Smith.

Rosado had originally been planned for a fight against WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders, but Saunders turned down the fight saying that a fight with Rosado does nothing for his career while Saunders also turned down fights against WIllie Monroe Jr. (which set up the Rosado-Monroe fight), and Curtis Stevens.

But Saunders does actually have to fight somebody, at some point, right?

Well, he hasn't stepped between the ropes in nearly a year since beating Andy Lee last December, but is finally penciled in for a late October fight against an opponent to be determined. Gabe Rosado, though, doesn't quite like being passed over dismissively while Saunders continues to sit on a title belt, telling the Daily Mail:

"Billy-Joe has no interest in defending the title, he just wants to capitalise on making money off it.

"If he wanted to defend the title like a true champion, he would have come to the States like Calzaghe and Hatton and proved to the American people he is a star.

"He chooses to hold the title hostage and go for the money."

Rosado finishes by suggesting that Saunders, knowing how badly Gennady Golovkin wants to unify all the middleweight titles, has be biding his time so that he can cash out on the world title once the fight is worth more money to him.

"[Saunders] is only calling out Golovkin because it is a pay day. He knows Golovkin wants that belt bad. He wants that really bad, they will offer a few million and he thinks, 'I'll take that ass whooping for a couple of mill'."

In the meantime we'll just have to see who Saunders is ultimately matched against on the Fury-Klitschko II undercard next month, if anybody at all is deemed worthy of the fight.