By Ryan Burton
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, hard hitting Cuban Yunier Dorticos returned to the ring Friday night with a first round knockout victory. The fight was his first in a year and after the fight he said that he wanted to face the winner of Saturday's fight between Beibut Shumenov and BJ Flores.
Shumenov-Flores takes place on Saturday at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and the WBA interim cruiserweight title will be at stake.
As for picking a winner, Dorticos said, "I think whoever trained the hardest and put in the most work will win the fight. To me it doesn't matter. Whoever wins the fight is who I want to fight."
The Caribe Promotions promoted fighter said that he would like fight more often but the most important thing for him is to get the big fights. With his #2 ranking by the WBA, Dorticos feels that he should get an immediate shot at the Shumenov-Flores winner.
"I want to stay more active but at the end of the day just staying active isn't the game plan. I earned my ranking and I am ranked #2 and Shumenov is ranked #1. I should be fighting him next. In the WBA I am the mandatory and I am going to pursue that. I want to show everyone who Yuniel Dorticos is. I want to do it against quality fighters so the fans can get to know me and see the quality fighter that I am. That is why I want to fight the winner," Dorticos stated.
Facing the winner is likely the quickest route Dorticos can take to get to a world title and big fights. He wants to make it clear however that he is willing to fight any cruiserweight champion any time and any place.
"I want to fight any world champion. I want to fight Huck, Lebedev, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, BJ Flores, Shumenov - whoever has the title. I will fight anywhere. Spain, Russia, Mexico, the United States, it doesn't matter. I am here to fight everybody. To me it doesn't matter who it is," Dorticos told BoxingScene.com.
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