By Jake Donovan
It's been a heck of a career turnaround for Artur Szpilka. The southpaw heavyweight contender from Poland has stormed back from the lone loss of his career to claim four straight wins, beginning with a unanimous decision over countryman Tomasz Adamek last year and three knockouts in 2015.
The hope was to end 2015 with a bang, as the 26-year old was due to face fellow southpaw Amir Mansour in an NBC-televised crossroads bout on December 12 in San Antonio. Those plans were changed in an instant, with the fight still due to happen but now carrying a "TBA" in the way of a scheduled date.
"These things happen, it's boxing," Szpilka (20-1, 15KOs) told BoxingScene.com of the postponement. "You look at me now, I'm in shape. But now, I get in even better shape and we prepare more for him."
A firm date and location have yet to surface, although the potential heavyweight slugfest is being targeted for the first quarter of 2016. That will leave Szpilka out of the ring for roughly 5-6 months, his last ring appearance resulting in a 2nd round injury stoppage of Yasmany Conseugra in August.
His three fights in 2015 have lasted a combined seven rounds, but he's gained enough from the string of knockouts to realize he's ready for more. A win over Mansour, he believes will get him to that point.
"I fight for Al Haymon, you know how it goes - he points, we move," Szpilka joked, mocking those "opposed" to the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) movement. "You look, I have the best adviser (Haymon), the best trainer (Ronnie Shields) - I love my team and they will have me ready for everything I want out of the heavyweight division."
And just what exactly would that be?
"I want all of the titles," Szpilka insists. "Give me (unbeaten heavyweight tiltist) Deontay Wilder. Give me (World/unified heavyweight king Wladimir) Klitschko. I don't care. I want to fight anyone who has a belt they want to give to me."
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
