First middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders called out unified titleholder Gennady Golovkin and then promptly turned down a career-high seven-figure payday to face him.Then, when offered a guaranteed fight with superstar Canelo Alvarez if he would first defeat Gabriel Rosado, Willie Monroe Jr. or Curtis Stevens -- his camps choice -- in the co-feature of Alvarezs fight with Liam Smith on Sept. 17, Saunders rejected all of those second-tier opponents.Englands Saunders (23-0 12 KOs) wanted only to face unknown Russian Artur Akavov (16-1 7 KOs), but since he was not even a second-tier contender and was wholly unknown, Golden Boy declined to put that fight on Alvarezs card.But on Friday, Saunders got his man. He will face Akavov on Oct. 22 at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales, promoter Frank Warren announced.After turning down the fight with Golovkin, Saunders was scheduled to make his first title defense against Ukraines Max Bursak on April 30 in London, but pulled out after suffering a left hand injury.Then Saunders, 27, was supposed to make his first defense on the Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko II undercard on Oct. 29 in Manchester, England, but the fight was moved up one week when the heavyweight championship rematch was canceled last week due to Furys withdrawal.Now he will make defense No. 1 against fellow southpaw Akavov, nearly a year after he eked out a majority decision to win the 160-pound belt from Irelands Andy Lee in December.Nothing comes easy in boxing and Im definitely not taking Akavov for granted, Saunders said. Hes a strong fighter and very dangerous and if I dont come in 100 percent, then he could cause an upset in my first title defense. Im going to make sure Im in the shape of my life and give Akavov the toughest night hes ever had. Hes never been stopped before so this is going to be a first for him.Warren still hopes to still make an Alvarez-Saunders or Golovkin-Saunders unification fight in 2017 but said Saunders needed to get back into the ring before either is possible.This is Bills first fight in 10 months, Warren said. The Russian is a tough guy who is capable of making things awkward. Hopefully, Bill will shake off the ring rust with a successful defense to set up a super fight for early [in the new] new year.Akavov, 28, has won 11 fights in a row since an eight-round unanimous decision loss to novice pro Oleg Liseev in 2012 in Russia, but he has never faced even a fringe contender. He has fought all but four of his bouts in Russia with two in Estonia and his past two in New York after linking up with promoter Lou DiBella.I know why they picked me as an opponent, Akavov said. Although I am very honored and proud to fight for the WBO world championship, at the same time, I promise to prove that the Saunders camp [was] gravely mistaken with whatever they were expecting of me in the ring. I represent my family first and my country and that alone will not let me fail.Said DiBella: I know that the champion Billy Joe Saunders is a professional, so I hope hes not looking past Akavov. Artur Akavov is a tough SOB who will bring the fight to Billy Joe. If this is a keep busy fight, the champion better be prepared for a tough night. Artur is no joke.British junior middleweight champion Liam Williams (15-0-1, 10 KOs), 24, of Wales, is also on the card in a defense against Londons 28-year-old Ahmet Patterson (17-0, 7 KOs). 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ESTERO, Fla. -- Kristy Wallace is a bit of a wanderer.She traveled more than 8,000 miles from her native Australia to play at Baylor, one of the top programs in womens college basketball, and shes been roving ever since arriving in Texas two years ago from Loganholme in southeastern Queensland. Whether taking a holiday trip to Colorado, meandering away from teammates on a visit to Universal Studios or just pedaling her Schwinn around campus, she seems to always be on the move.Kristy is known for being a roamer, said Lady Bears forward Dekeiya Cohen. If we all go someplace, we look around like, Wheres Kristy? Thats her role. We always look out for Kristy. No matter where we go, Wheres Kristy? Wheres Kristy? As soon as we get somewhere, she automatically goes exploring.Wallace acknowledges her adventurous streak and recalled with a laugh the time she got lost riding her bike to Best Buy from the Waco campus as a freshman.I dont know how many miles it was, but I found myself in a sketchy part of town, said Wallace, who is 20. I havent made that trip again.Wallace, a combo guard, cant be contained by mere geography on the court, either. During last weeks 84-42 win over Kent State in the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena, she was seemingly everywhere.Early in the game, the 5-foot-11 junior blocked a shot at one end of the court and buried a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Soon after, she missed a jumper from the right side but flew in to grab a rebound at the other end of the floor seconds later. When Lady Bears forward Alexis Prince was inadvertently struck in the mouth during play, Wallace was quick to come over to check on her teammate. Late in the game with the Bears holding a big lead, Wallace was the first one off the bench to greet teammates coming out of the game.No one outworks Kristy, said longtime Baylor coach Kim Mulkey. She works, works, works, and when were not practicing, shes up at the gym. Shes constantly active and moving. She never tires. She makes you work hard because shes working so hard.The Lady Bears, ranked No. 5 in the AP poll at the time, followed the Kent State game with a 104-72 win over No. 18 DePaul and an emphatic 85-68 victory against No. 8 Ohio State in the Showcase final.In that contest, Wallace drew the assignment of guarding the Buckeyes leading scorer, All-American guard Kelsey Mitchell, who wound up fouling out after scoring a season-low 17 points on 5-for-20 shooting. After racking up 25 points, 14 rebounds and 25 assists in those three games, Wallace was named MVP of the tournament.She just brings that spark, said Lady Bears forward Nina Davis. If theres a loose ball on the floor, you know that Kristy is going to dive for it. Shes going to take the charge. She does all the little things. She brings so much energy to the game, and it helps everyyone else elevate their game.ddddddddddddallace is described as energetic, feisty and aggressive on the court and funny, friendly and free-spirited away from the gym. She already has a wealth of international experience, having captained the Australian national squad that beat Spain to win the bronze medal at the U19 world championship last year in Russia. She also helped lead Australia to titles at the 2013 FIBA U19 Pacific Championship and the 2014 FIBA U18 Oceania Championship.Kristy isnt the only athlete in the Wallace family. Sister Nikki, 22, is a standout in Australian rules football and was drafted by the Brisbane Lions ahead of the inaugural 2017 AFLW season. But Kristy said her strong work ethic comes from her father, John.At a young age, he shaped me to work hard, Wallace said. It didnt necessarily have to be basketball. It could be anything at all. He encouraged me to work my butt off and step my game up in anything I did.Wallace is majoring in kinesiology, but make no mistake, she intends to play for many years to come. She plans to pursue professional basketball after college and dreams of one day representing Australia in the Olympics.Thats definitely the goal, Wallace, who also would like to establish her own charitable foundation eventually. Id love to travel and help people around the world. I want to go wherever God takes me, and whatever opportunity comes up would be fantastic.But first things first. Wallace and the Lady Bears (7-1), who moved up to a No. 4 ranking this week, are determined to compete for a national championship. The Final Four will be held in Dallas, just 95 miles up Interstate 35 from Waco -- almost close enough to reach by bicycle. However, for the Lady Bears to get there, they will need Wallace to play at a high level and help lead the way. Baylors 72-61 loss at defending NCAA champion Connecticut on Nov. 17 showed the Lady Bears where they need to focus in order to compete against the nations best teams.They sat in the film room with me for three hours, Mulkey said. So we learned a great deal about toughness and making plays in the crunch. ... Its not about missing shots. Thats part of the game. Its intangibles that separate two teams of equal talent.Mulkey calls Wallace a key cog to everything were trying to do. Wallace, in turn, relishes her role and cant imagine playing at any other school. She was raised as a Baptist, and, in addition to boasting a storied womens basketball tradition, Baylor is the largest Baptist college in the world.Baylor is a great fit for me, Wallace said. It has that Christian atmosphere. They win championships, and thats what I wanted to do coming in. I had a great gut feeling about Baylor. ' ' '