by Dean Parr
2-0-1 (0 KOs) prospect Bradley Evans will fight against Jon Baguley this weekend on the Darren Barker vs. Danny Butler undercard [Butler stepped in at short notice as a replacement for Wayne Elcock, who withdrew from the fight due to a viral infection – Ed.] He was a good amateur, as evidenced by the fact he won an ABA Title in the featherweight division (57kg) in 2008. However, Evans admits that he found the transition from amateur boxing to pro boxing a difficult one.
He said: “I found the transition harder than I thought I would. I didn't realise how different the two sports were (amateur and professional boxing), and I think that I'm only just finding my feet in the pro game now.”
However, Evans seemed to be content with the way things are going to date. “I'm happy enough with my start apart from the one obvious fight which I drew. However, I'm still only young so I have time on my side and I'm just looking to put in a good performance against Baguley now,” he declared.
The draw he referred to was in his second pro fight which was contested against tough Latvian Jevgenijis Kirrilovs (now 3-3 with 3 KOs). Evans was undoubtedly not at his best in this match, although Kirrilovs was much better than his 0-1 record at the time suggested.
On the fight, Evans said: “At first after the fight I was gutted and it felt like a loss - I was kicking myself for weeks because I knew that I didn't perform that night. Since I boxed him though, he got beat by Barnes ['Superbad' Steve Barnes] in a close fight, and now he's gone back to Latvia and KOed three guys. He was no mug, and to be honest I thought I probably did just enough to get the nod, but it was a close fight so I can't complain too much.”
Since that bout, he has scored a points win over Karl Taylor, who outweighed him by 10lbs at the weigh in. Evans was content with his improvement after the Kirrilovs draw. He beamed: “The performance was better against Taylor who was a lot heavier than me that night, so my confidence is up now and I'm just looking to carry that through to this Saturday.”
As mentioned earlier, this Saturday, he will fight the 8-16 (4 KOs) Jon Baguley, who despite losing a vast number of times, has only been stopped once. On his opponent, Evans said: “I haven't seen too much of him - only the little bit there is on YouTube, but I know he's been in the ring with good boxers, so I know I'm going to have to perform to get the result. I know I've trained hard enough for the fight, so I'm just looking forward to getting in the ring now.”
In the past, Evans has struggled with making weight, although he suggests he is completely on track and focussed now on that side of things. On the topic, Evans stated:
“The weight was a bit of a problem, but I think I'm starting to understand making the weight as a pro. In the amateurs I just used to stop eating and drinking a few days before and make the weight like that, but I've realised now that you can't do that as a pro; so I'm dieting now and making the weight properly. I won't be moving up from lightweight for now.”
Despite his outstanding amateur credentials, Evans is willing to bide his time before he thinks about any kind of title shot.
“At the minute I'm not really thinking about titles too much. As I said earlier, I'm still young, so I'm just taking each fight as it comes. My trainer Tony reckons this will be my last four rounder though, so I'm going the right way to fighting for titles,” said Evans.
As a final message to all his fans, Evans had this to say: “Like I said, I've trained hard for this and Baguley isn't a journeyman, so I think he will come to fight. Now, I just have to box well to win, and I hope the fans enjoy it too!”
Bradley Evans appears on the undercard of Darren Barker vs. Danny Butler at the Brentwood Leisure Centre, Essex. Tickets can be bought at www.ticketline.co.uk ; the card will be broadcast live on ITV 4.
