WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0 12 KOs) will make his first title defence against Artur Akavov (16-1 7 KOs) on October 22 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
The Briton dethroned Ireland’s Andy Lee in December 2015 but pulled out of a scheduled defence against Ukrainian Max Bursak in April due to a hand injury.
Now he will fight Russia’s Akavov, who is a southpaw and holds the WBO European Middleweight title. Akavov has won all of his last 11 fights and has never been…