Billy Joe Saunders confident there is still time for John Joe Nevin to become an Irish great

Billy Joe Saunders believes he can lead John Joe Nevin to greatness.

The super-middleweight world titleholder was yesterday confirmed as ‘The Mullingar Shuffler’s’ new manager and is confident he can help Nevin fulfill his potential in the pro ranks.

Many had become frustrated with the stop-start nature of the Olympic silver medal winner’s career.

Indeed, despite winning a ranking title in late 2019, most fans feared Nevin would never secure a fight noteworthy enough to enable him to progress to high-end world level.

Nevin was deemed high risk low reward and lacked the promotional backing to make it financially worthwhile to face him.

As a result, fans were happy to accept he would have to go down as an amateur great.

However, Billy Joe Saunders, Nevin’s new manager, is confident the Irish talent, even at 31, still has the time and the ability to ‘achieve greatness’ -and is confident he can guide him to world titles.

“John Joe can achieve greatness and I believe he can go all the way to the top,” said the fighter who will trade leather with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May.

“His amateur pedigree speaks for itself. He beat Luke Campbell in the amateurs and Campbell also beat him, so that is a fight I would like to see.

“I am really looking forward to working alongside John Joe and myself and Daniel are looking to get the best fights possible for him. He made history as the first traveler to win an Olympic silver medal and I am looking forward to working alongside him.”