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Targets Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury’s world title belts
By Boluwaji Ogunmola
NIGERIA’S undefeated Heavyweight boxer Raphael Akpejiori has said he would stop at nothing in his bid to bring the heavyweight title to Nigeria, even if he must fight Anthony Joshua to achieve this feat.
The heavyweight title contender voiced his desire while featuring on BCOS TV flagship Sports Program, Saturday Breakfast Sports, anchored by Boluwaji Ogunmola from his Miami Florida base in the United States of America.
“My goal is to make my country and my family proud, And I’ll do anything that will enable me bring the heavyweight belt to Nigeria. I want to make my people proud and assuage the pains and hunger afflicting my compatriots in Nigeria”, Akpejiori said.
On reports that he offered to spar with Tyson Fury ahead of the heavyweight unification bout with Anthony Joshua, Raphael said no offer of such was made.
“During the interview I had with Sky Sports, we talked about a lot of things from my career to my sparring partners, there was really no offer on the table” the US based Nigerian pugilist explained.
“There was really no offer to spar with any boxer. Tyson Fury was in town, and I was being asked if I think Tyson Fury can handle my power and I said yes, there are lot of heavyweights here in Miami Florida, almost all the heavyweight prospects live here, so there’s so much sparring here, if he (Fury) wants to come train here, he will get as much sparring as he wants, from all the heavyweight contenders here. We have Filip Hrgovic, Ivan Dychko, so that was what I was talking about” he concluded.
The 30-year old boxer's dream fight is against Dillian Whyte, and he says he can’t wait to take on Whyte in less than a year.
“My dream fight Is against Dillian Whyte. I think he’s a good boxer, very tough, he’s a goal getter and I think my skill fits perfectly with him, he’s a heavyweight contender, he’s one guy I’ll love to fight within a year and I believe my skills will overpower his skills as we match perfectly with each other in terms of skills”, Raphael stated
The Surulere born boxer started his sporting career as a basketball player, playing in the Nigerian Premier Basketball League with Lagos Islanders and Ebun Comets before travelling to the United States to play some college basketball and later the switched to American football.
Raphael, who started boxing as a workout, fell in love with boxing after a boxing coach he met at the gym, convinced him to give amateur boxing a try.
Speaking on his next fight, scheduled for Saturday, 3rd of April, the Knockout specialist said he possesses a quality a lot of heavyweight boxers don’t possess.
“My next fight is against Curtis Head, he’s a 13 fight professional fighter, he’s a guy that will possibly go a lot of rounds. We’re gonna be fighting for 6 rounds, fortunately I possess something a lot of heavyweight fighters don’t possess, which is knockout power. These days everyone I touch goes to sleep, we hope he won’t go to sleep with one punch. We hope he’ll put up a fight, that’s why we accepted the fight",
The 9-0 KO record fighter while admitting that he wouldn’t mind bringing a heavyweight title fight to Nigeria, wants to be remembered as the guy who gave his all to be an inspiration to many.
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