Billy Joe Saunders to face Martin Murray for WBO title at Wembley in December

Saunders beat Shefat Isufi and Marcelo Esteban Coceres in 2019

Billy Joe Saunders will defend his WBO world super-middleweight title against fellow Briton Martin Murray at SSE Arena, Wembley, on 4 December.

Saunders, 31, is unbeaten in 29 bouts and defeated Marcelo Esteban Coceres in the 11th round in his most recent encounter in Los Angeles last November.

Murray, 38, has won 39 fights and the last of his five losses was in 2018.

The two were due to meet in 2018 but the fight was postponed twice because of injuries to Saunders.

That prompted Murray to describe Saunders as a “hypocrite”.

In March, Saunders was close to finalising a May fight with boxing’s best-paid fighter Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in Las Vegas but that fell through because of the coronavirus pandemic.

That same month, Saunders had his boxing licence suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control after he released a video advising men how to hit their female partners.

He was found guilty of misconduct in July and fined £15,000 for the video but the suspension had since been lifted.

Asked about his next challenge he said: “I can’t wait to have my 30th professional fight and finish the year with a bang before a big 2021.”

Murray insisted: “There was no bad blood really between me and Billy, it was just a lot of frustration after he pulled out twice.

“That got left where it was, but we’ve definitely got some unfinished business. I’m expecting a hard fight and Billy Joe to be at his best, so I’ll be ready.”