The WBO Championship Committee has issued a ruling on suspended former WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. Saunders’ suspension is to be terminated immediately and it’s recommended to the WBO World Ratings Committee that Saunders be reinstated in the WBO middleweight ratings and be positioned as the number one contender. Further, if the WBO Ratings Committee adopts the Championship Committees’ recommendation, Saunders will be designated the official mandatory challenger to current champion Demetrius Andrade.

The Championship Committee has also ordered the Andrade and Saunders to begin negotiations. If an accord is not reached within 30 days, a purse bid will be ordered. The minimum acceptable bid is $200,000.