By Ryan Burton

Heavyweight contender BJ Flores (34-3-1) read an article on BoxingScene.com this morning with amusement. According to the article by Alexey Sukachev, Flores is on standby in case, if for any reason, Christian Hammer falls out of his December 15th fight against Alexander Povetkin. The World of Boxing, which co-promotes Povetkin said that they have a viable replacement set in the ex-cruiserweight multi-time title challenger Flores.

The long time cruiserweight contender contacted BoxingScene.com to set the record straight. He made it clear that he is very interested in facing Povektkin and several other top heavyweights. In fact he said he turned down the opportunity to spar with Povetkin because he preferred to face him in a real fight.

“First off, I accepted an offer to fight Povetkin. I also accepted an offer to fight Sergey Kuzmin. These guys in at World of Boxing offer 10 guys the same deal and then pick one.

Kuzmin is now fighting Amir Mansour and I hope Amir knocks his ass out,” Flores told BoxingScene.com.

“Secondly , I am not the backup for Povetkin. I wanted the fight just like  I wanted the fight with Kuzmin. I declined the Povetkin offer to be a backup because I want a guaranteed fight and not a 'maybe fight.' They need to quit using me as leverage for Hammer.”

I am not going to be back-up for Povetkin, if I have to pay for my training camp and I'm not at least on the undercard. It is absurd to prepare for a Povetkin fight and then get stuck with a 25k+ training bill. I wanted to fight Povetkin and lobbied hard for the fight, but I'm no sucker."

Flores has gone 2-0 this year as he made the move up to the heavyweight division where he feels a lot more comfortable and now holds a WBA junior title and top-10 rating. He said that he is looking for a big name in his next fight.

“Povetkin, Kuzmin, I’ve been chasing Lucas Browne for a year. Any of those guys I am interested. I have no problem going to Australia again. Joseph Parker. They are all on my radar,” Said Flores.

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