By BoxingBet.pl
It seems likely that undefeated Lateef Kayode (18-0, 14 KOs) will move up to the heavyweight division in the near future. The Nigeria-born fighter has been out of boxing since his fight with Antonio Tarver which took place in June this year. Kayode tried to get Tarver’s IBO cruiserweight title, but the bout ended in a draw and was later changed to a no-decision after Tarver failed a post-fight drug test.
"I plan to move to heavyweight by January depending on my promoter and team. I always dreamed about fighting under the glamorous lights of Las Vegas. I was born in Nigeria on the rough streets of Lagos, I traveled to the United states in 2007 to follow pursue my boxing career," Kayode told BoxingBet.pl.
It's worth to mention, that the 29-year old Kayode had been fighting as a heavyweight at the beginning of his career winning ten consecutive bouts. Then, in March 2010, he decided to move down to cruiserweight complaining about lack of lucrative offers.
“I decided to move down because it was hard to get a fight in heavyweight at the time, nobody wanted to fight me. Freddie [Roach] and my manager Steve [Feder] told me maybe I should consider moving to cruiserweight and fight for a title I took their advice. Cruiserweight was moving fast now it's slowing down," Kayode explains.
Recently Kayode was considered as a next opponent for WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (24-1, 18 KOs). Eventually the negotiations fell through and the Russian fighter decided to face an undefeated Colombian Santander Silgado (23-0, 18 KOs) on December 17th in Moscow, Russia. Even though Kayode plans to move up to the heavyweight division, he doesn’t exclude facing Lebedev in the future.
"This fight would have been good for me and Denis Lebedev, unfortunately they informed me too late on the December 17th fight. I will be looking forward to fighting Denis Lebedev in the future. I truly respect him, he’s a strong guy and he has fought a lot of champs".
