Former WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders expects to be a new man at 168-pounds.

Saunders, no stranger to ;boiling down in weight, will look to become a two division champion on Saturday when he faces Shefat Isufi (27-3-2, 20 KOs), 29, at the Lamex Stadium in Stevenage, for the vacant WBO super middleweight title.

The belt was vacated by Gilberto Ramirez, who is now at light heavyweight.

Saunders (27-0, 13 KOs), 29, moved up in weight after failing to secure fights with any of the top middleweights - like Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.

He was set to fight Demetrius Andrade, but the contest was called off after Saunders came up positive for a substance that was deemed illegal by testing agency VADA - but the substance is not considered illegal by British testing organization UKAD.

Looking ahead, Saunders is expecting a very tough test against Isufi, who does have some punching power.

"We will see when I box at this new weight, but I won't have to boil myself down," Saunders told Nick Parkinson. "I feel more strength at the weight and my weight has been good all the way through and I've just got to put it into a performance.

"Shefat Isufi is very strong and he's got punch power because he's stopped 20 out of 27 wins, but I believe my skills set will be too much for him. I believe Ramirez is moving up and won't be performing at super-middleweight no more so that's great news for me and Isufi that we get to fight for the full title."

Saunders now has a new coach, after leaving Dominic Ingle's gym in Sheffield to hook up with Ben Davison, who also works with heavyweight Tyson Fury.

"Me and Tyson training at the same gym is great and we rub off on each other," said Saunders. "I'm at Hatton's Gym ?24/7. I've got a caravan in the car park in Manchester there.

"I needed a complete change in everything. I was a bit stale there [in Sheffield] and it was a bit overcrowded for what I needed. Golovkin and Canelo were tied up together last year and 2018 was just a bad one for me. I needed a new start."