Billy Joe Saunders nets £22,500 after Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko.... and spends winnings on Audemars Piguet watch

Billy Joe Saunders won big when his close friend and former amateur team-mate Tyson Fury dethroned heavyweight icon Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf at the weekend.

The undefeated middleweight was so convinced Fury would do the business in Germany that he bet £5,000 on him to win at 7/2, netting him a total of £22,500 when the Englishman's hand was raised at the Esprit Arena.

And Saunders, who boxed alongside Fury for England and Great Britain as an amateur, revealed that he splashed most of his winnings on an Audemars Piguet watch after celebrating the victory in Marbella, Spain.

Billy Joe Saunders netted £22,500 after betting on Tyson Fury to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko on the weekend

Saunders bet £5,000 on Fury to win at 7/2, netting him £22,500 when Fury's hand was raised at the Esprit Arena

The 26-year-old is currently at the MGM gym on the Spanish coast approaching the end of his training camp before he faces Andy Lee for the Irishman's WBO middleweight title.

And he says Fury's victory against the odds will also inspire him during his title tilt at the Manchester Arena on December 19.

Former British, Commonwealth and European champion Saunders said: 'Thanks to Tyson I've just bought myself a nice little AP, a new watch on him from my winnings. So thank you very much Mr Fury.

'I knew he was going to do it all along and next up now is me. I've got to do the same sort of thing: go there now and defeat the champion.

'It won't be as good a story as Fury beating Klitschko but Andy Lee is still the champion and cannot be overlooked. But I feel I'm a younger, fresher fighter and I want it more.'

Saunders says his fight with Lee, the first ever world title clash between two travellers, will also invoke a spike at the bookmakers.

The 26-year-old is currently at the MGM gym on the Spanish coast approaching the end of his training camp

Tyson Fury became heavyweight champion of the world beating Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision

He insists he has the backing of the community against Lee, the London-born Irishman, and revealed that his friends are already lumping on him to end the night with the belt around his waist.

He added: 'I won't let anybody down. I know I will win this fight. I don't think Andy Lee can win this fight at all, in my own head and my own heart,

'People can feel free to put £100,000 on me if they want, because I know plenty of people in my community who have put a hell of a lot of money now.

'I could show you Whatsapp messages on my phone from mates. One of them has got £25,000 on me.

'At the minute Andy Lee is the gatekeeper to the next field and it's there for me to walk through into it. I genuinely believe I am going to become world champion this year.'

Fury is the eighth British heavyweight to become world champion and first from travelling community

Fury poses with the WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles at a media day in Bolton on Monday

Lee showed incredible one-punch power when he stopped both John Jackson and Matt Korobov during 2014, marking him out as one of the world biggest hitters.

Lee himself has suggested he is every bit as powerful as unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, currently considered the most destructive puncher on the planet.

But Saunders is not so sure. He added: 'I've seen Andy Lee hit Anthony Fitzgerald square on the chin and could not budge him, it went the full distance.

'Then I've seen Spike O'Sullivan, who I clearly outboxed for every round, lay Fitzgerald out cold within a minute. Spike is the bigger puncher clearly.

'I'm not going into this fight thinking he's a Golovkin-like puncher. I will be standing there and trading with him. He's nowhere near a Golovkin puncher but because he's got a couple of knock-out wins he thinks he is.'

Tickets are available for Lee v Saunders at www.frankwarren.com or to watch live and exclusive on BoxNation, go to www.boxnation.com 

British boxer Fury erupts in delight after defeating Klitschko on a sensational Saturday night in Dusseldorf