Russian boxer Sharabutdin Ataev said that during a fight with an Azerbaijanis of Cuban origin Lauren Alfonso will demonstrate interesting preparations.
The fight for the IBA belt in weights up to 86 kg between Atayev and Alfonso will be the headliner of the upcoming tournament “Night of IBA Champions”, which will take place on February 16 in Dushanbe. Ataev (6-0, KO 4) is the 2023 world champion and two-time champion of Russia. Alfonso is a bronze medalist at the 2020 Olympic Games, a 2021 world champion and a winner at the 2019 European Games.
– This is our fourth fight, and something has already become boring. But what to do… We will not make any significant changes. We’re just trying to improve what we can do. The fight will last ten rounds, it will be necessary to calculate the strength. But we have been preparing for this confrontation for a very long time. This fight is very important for me, we only think about victory. Everything has to happen for us to win.
There is a big difference between fights of three rounds and those of ten. Basically, he doesn’t do anything in three turns. And here are ten rounds… I think he will dry out the fight by all means, he will try by all means to avoid the fight. But we have to do our job – we are prepared and we will show it in the fight. I have to listen to the angle and act calmly. To avoid the situation of our first fight, we must approach our actions wisely,” said Ataev, whose remarks to were provided by the press service of the Russian Boxing Federation.
According to the chairman of the coaching council of the Russian Boxing Federation and Atayev’s manager, Eduard Kravtsov, the winner of the next fight will receive $350,000, and the loser – $150,000.
– We don’t think about money. All our thoughts are only on the fight itself and how to achieve victory. When you start thinking about money in advance… It won’t lead to anything good. I try to abstract myself from this information. Yours will not leave you. If it is intended to make money, it will be so,” Ataev added.
The IBA Night of Champions tournament in Dushanbe will be broadcast live on the channel on February 16, the broadcast starts at 20:00 (Moscow time).
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
