Fury, 25, was withdrawn after his uncle and first trainer Hughie fell seriously ill and was taken to hospital. Fury’s original opponent, Dereck Chisora, pulled out earlier in the week with a fractured hand.
Saunders, from a Romany Gypsy community in Hertfordshire, was happy to contemplate a fight against Chris Eubank Jr, who extended his unbeaten record to 17-0 on the undercard with a brutal first-round stoppage of Croatian Ivan Jukic.
Saunders said: “It’s not that I need him. But if people want me to knock him out, I will do it. If he is man enough, we will get it on.”
Eubank Jr declared he would “have the British title within the next four months” and father Chris, a former two-weight world champion, believes his son can surpass his achievements.
“In my view he is going to change the game,” Eubank said. “It is my duty as a father to make sure I steer him into beating my records – it is something I desire for him.”
Asked about the possibility of Saunders fighting Eubank Jr, promoter Frank Warren said: “It is turning into a big fight. We will sit down and look at the options. If the business calls for it, we will do it.”
Unbeaten Liam Smith from Liverpool retained his British light-middleweight crown after a huge whipping right hand to the body ended the challenge of Jason Welborn, who was counted out 36 seconds into the sixth round.
Manchester’s Terry Flanagan won every round as he took the vacant British lightweight title, Martin Gethin’s corner pulling their fighter out at the end of the seventh round with severe swelling to his ear.
