By Ben Jacobs
Naturally disappointed that he was unable to secure a fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, Amir Mansour (22-1-1, 16 KOs) has told BoxingScene.com that he will fight on the same bill as Wilder on January 16 at the Barclays Center in New York. While Wilder will be defending his belt against Poland’s Artur Szpilka, Mansour will face an undefeated boxer for the second time in succession in the form of 2012 US Olympian, Dominic Breazeale (16-0, 14 KOs).
“It’s confirmed, I signed the contract today,” said Mansour.
“He’s just a tall kid. He can fight a little bit, he hasn’t become 16 and 0 without knowing how to fight but he’s going to be in the ring with an entirely different fighter than he’s ever faced before. It’s a real challenge for him, it’s not a huge challenge for me. I know he comes in decent shape but it’s going to be a different war with me.”
The two men share a common opponent in Fred Kassi. Last time out Breazeale won a ten round unanimous decision over the Cameroon fighter while Mansour knocked him out in devastating fashion in 2014.
“To be honest I thought Kassi beat him,” Mansour opined.
“If you give it to the favoured guy it should have been a draw but scoring it fairly Kassi should have walked away with the decision. One thing that surprised me was that Kassi was a lot faster than him. I remember fighting Kassi and I thought that guy was slow, I could see what he was throwing. You know, they build these guys up to be fighters that they’re not. Then when they get in the ring with a guy like me they get exposed.”
Reflecting on the failed negotiations with Wilder, Amir is philosophical about the decision of Team Wilder to opt for Szpilka rather than himself.
“It is what it is, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. They made it quite obvious they didn’t want to fight me. Business wise these champions are going to take the easiest route to remain champion. They’re not going to knock on the door of the toughest guys in the world.
“They all saw Klitschko do this for six, seven years straight and they are following that blueprint,” he continued.
“He was allowed to fight mediocre opposition for a long time, that’s the mindset of these heavyweights now. The best are not fighting the best. It used to always be the most popular division. It’s not unpopular through lack of talent, it’s because the best don’t fight the best anymore.
“I thought Wilder did a good job against Stiverne and Molina, he did a good job against the mediocre opposition he has been up against.
“He showed me something in his last fight that no matter how tired he is he will continue to try to get his man, and that’s a very hard trait to instil in a fighter because a lot of these guys allow fatigue to set in. So he showed a few good things in his last fight.”
