Never in his wildest imagination did super middleweight Steven Sumpter, 11-1-1 (9 KOs), think he’d be fighting in Las Vegas as part of the festivities for the biggest fight of the year and perhaps the decade: Terence Crawford vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Sumpter will be, though, this coming Wednesday night in the first of back-to-back shows at Fontainebleau Las Vegas leading up to Canelo-Crawford, which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in the same city.
Sumpter, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, will contest a 10-round fight against the 14-0 (12 KOs) Bek Nurmaganbet on a Zuffa Boxing show dubbed “The Underdog.”
“I never dreamed I’d be fighting on a platform like this,” Sumpter admitted in a press release. “I knew it would take steps to move up, but I never thought I’d be fighting on a show in Las Vegas leading into Canelo vs. Crawford.
“An impressive win will open a lot of doors for me. The whole world will know who I am, and I’ll be able to challenge the guys at the top of the light heavyweight division.” Though Sumpter most recently fought at 168lbs, he has also competed at 175lbs. “It will literally change my whole life, but I never really think about that.”
Nurmaganbet, ranked No. 11 by the World Boxing Association, was a celebrated amateur boxer in Kazakhstan. He was the 2018 Kazakhstan National Champion as well as the gold medal winner at the ASBC Elite Boxing Championships.
“I’ve been in the ring with better caliber guys than him,” Sumpter said. “I sparred with Jean Pascal for this fight. At my gym, I’ve sparred Rohan Polanco and he’s a welterweight but hits like a light heavyweight. I was Steven Butler’s main sparring partner for his last fight. I know what to do.”
There’s always an increased risk of getting headbutted, of course, when a pair of southpaws like Nurmaganbet and Sumpter fight. Sumpter isn’t concerned at all, though.
“I know he’s a 6ft 1in southpaw and a good boxer,” Sumpter said. “I’m not concerned with headbutting because we’re both southpaws. I can expose his European style. He doesn’t like mixing it up inside. He wants to stay on the outside, so I need to apply pressure and dictate the pace, not him, from the start.
“I’m going in confident of doing what I do,” Sumpter concluded, “and coming out with the win.”
