Nicklaus Flaz understands the importance of his fight on Friday with Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson.
The 15-2 (10 KOs) contender is ranked at welterweight by both the IBF and the WBO, and the winner of Friday’s fight at Lakeland, Florida, will near a title shot.
Speaking from his camp in Puerto Rico, he said that his training has gone well, sparring has been good, and that he is more than ready. He had been due to face Peter Dobson in September, but an injury to the American forced him to wait.
“It’s going great, it’s be a really long training camp but it’s been good,” he said of training for Johnson. “We’re in good physical shape.
“Unfortunately, my last opponent got injured and the card was rescheduled, but now we are up against another great opponent and we haven’t stopped training. [Johnson’s] undefeated and an Olympian from [the] Tokyo [Games]; he’s a great opponent who, God willing, will catapult me to a world title.”
Johnson is 16-0 (7 KOs), boxed at the Olympics, and fought on Team USA for several years, travelling the world.
“I’m going to show them that Olympic boxing and professional boxing are completely different and I’m going to welcome him to real professional boxing,” Flaz added.
“As always, [I’m predicting] a great fight. I’m going to enjoy the fight, doing what I always do and putting on a show for my people.”
The super-middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga has tipped Flaz as a future star of Puerto Rican boxing, and Flaz revealed he’s studied Miguel Cotto, one of the island’s greats, and in particular his left hook.
Flaz impressed in his only previous outing of 2025, in which, in May, he stopped the experienced Alan Sanchez in four rounds in Kissimmee, Florida.
“It was a fight that we prepared well for – the gameplan worked out and we were able to stop him quickly,” Flaz explained.
And he hopes there’s a similar outcome when he headlines on ProBox TV on Friday evening.
“We’re expecting a great fight with lots of action,” he said.
“My goal is to become world champion, and we are very close to making it happen.”
