Vyacheslav Uzelkov Prepares For Campillo Shot
By Andrey Krikunov
WBA Inter-Continental light heavyweight champion Vyacheslav Uzelkov is the official challenger for the WBA title and hopes to fight the owner of the belt Gabriel Campillo as soon as possible. At the same time Uzelkov claims that the plans of Sampson Lewkowicz, Campillo’s promoter, to hold another fight before meeting him in the ring are against the WBA rules.
“The things his promoter wants are against WBA rules and thus don’t matter. I hope that my promoters will set up the fight with Campillo as soon as possible, - told Uzelkov BoxingScene.com. – As for my physical and mental conditions – I am ready to face any of the ruling champions right now!”
Campillo has recently defended his title by defeating Beibut Shumenov in Astana, Kazakhstan, but the Ukrainian boxer is skeptical towards the fight itself.
“That bout is just impossible to understand! Boxers usually hold dozens of bouts over the years to earn the right to fight for the championship, while Shumenov was able to achieve this only with 8 bouts…and his millions. As for Campillo, he did great! It’s no secret that it is difficult to defend your title in the opponent’s backyard and still he managed to do it. What can I say…He really deserves credit for that”, - complemented Uzelkov.
Almost two years ago Uzelkov won the bout with Campillo by knocking him out, but he doesn’t think that it will make his task of defeating the Spaniard again any easier.
“Campillo is a good fighter and the fact that he lost to me doesn’t define the favorite in our future meeting, though it gives me a certain psychological advantage, - says Vyacheslav. – And as any good fighter, and I consider Gabriel to be a good fighter, he’s waiting for a chance to redeem himself, which makes our fight even more attractive for boxing fans. The Campillo I knocked out 2 years ago and today’s Campillo with the champion’s belt are differently motivated. It’s much harder to retain your title than to get it. I know it by my own experience! And I won’t speak about Campillo’s strong and weak points now – we’ll see everything it the ring."
Now Uzelkov is resting after his July victory over Istvan Varga, and for relaxation he is even taking part in the dancing TV-show on a national channel (Dancing with the stars analogue) where he became one of the favorites. “Yes, I’ve danced a little, - confessed the fighter. – It really was very useful, sort of general fitness training”.
