Martin J. Ward hopes to emulate Prince Naseem Hamed ahead of Vegas eliminator

Could twenty third, 2021

📷 Mark Robinson

Martin J. Ward thinks he has all of the solutions for Azinga Fuzile as he prepares to journey to Las Vegas to fulfill the South African in a last eliminator for the IBF World Tremendous-Featherweight title on Saturday Could 29 on the Michelob ULTRA Enviornment in Mandalay Bay, dwell worldwide on DAZN.

TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT – MATCHROOM ARE WORKING WITH MANDALAY BAY TO INCREASE CAPACITY

Ward (24-1-2 11 KOs) fulfills a childhood dream making his American debut within the vibrant lights of Sin Metropolis, however the Briton is not going to let the glitz and glamour distract him from taking a large step in changing into a World champion.

The 29 yr previous is aware of that Fuzile (14-1 8 KOs) presents a harmful impediment to that dream, however the Tony Sims skilled expertise isn’t fazed by having to face a southpaw to land a World title shot, and desires to emulate the affect that one in every of his heroes, Prince Naseem Hamed, had when he would wow crowds in America.

“I used to be an enormous Naz fan and stayed as much as watch him battle Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas and in all his fights everywhere in the States,” stated Ward. “It has been a childhood dream of mine to battle in Vegas on the large stage, and right here it’s, and I’m not going to let this slip by way of my fingers, I’ve skilled too laborious and put an excessive amount of of my life into this to let it go.

“Motivation has not been a problem in any respect on this camp, I’ve been coaching so laborious, and I’ve been flying, smashing it within the fitness center and on the observe, it’s all coming collectively on the proper time and I’m simply so excited. During the last yr there have been just a few alternatives which have come up, so I didn’t wish to get too excited as a few them fell by way of and I had began to get my weight down for them. I used to be chomping on the bit for them, so it was irritating, so I took this one with a pinch of salt actually, I simply needed a date to be sorted, and when it was cemented in place it was nice.

“He’s a slick southpaw, has some spectacular wins on the file and solely has one loss and he was profitable that battle till he acquired chinned. He appears to be like an excellent fighter, and hopefully our kinds will gel, and we’ll placed on an excellent battle for the followers. I haven’t fought in over a yr, however it’s been over 18 months for him, however it relies upon how you reside exterior the fitness center, I dwell the life, I preserve a wholesome way of life and coaching makes me blissful, it’s a part of me.

“I received the British title in 2016 after which received it outright within the area of ten months towards three southpaws so it’s humorous how I’m now going through one other southpaw on this huge battle. All these fights have constructed up my expertise and it’s all fallen into place; I simply must put all of it collectively on the night time.

“He’s elusive, sharp, counters effectively and has good protection with the shoulder roll, however I’m going to nullify all that and take him out of his consolation zone and do a job on him. I’ll be too good, and I feel I’ll be too huge and robust for the man. I’m so near the place I wish to be.”

Ward’s conflict with Fuzile is a part of an enormous night time of motion in Las Vegas, topped by unbeaten WBC World Light-weight champion Devin Haney (25-0 15 KOs) defending his title towards former World ruler Jorge Linares (47-5 29 KOs).

There’s extra World title motion on the cardboard as Chantelle Cameron (13-0 7 KOs) defends her WBC World Tremendous-Light-weight title towards Melissa Hernandez (23-7-3 7 KOs), and there’s an enchanting battle between two Golden Boy Promotions stablemates as Jason Quigley (18-1 14 KOs) and Shane Mosley Jr (17-3 10 KOs) go toe-to-toe for the WBO NABO Middleweight title.

There’s an expert debut on the cardboard for Eddie Hearn’s newest American signing, Khalil Coe, Reshat Mati (9-0 7 KOs) enters double figures within the professional recreation on the night time, Ramla Ali (2-0) has been spectacular in her two fights since turning professional in October and the primary professional feminine fighter from Somalia will get an introduction to American battle followers on the invoice, a card that’s rounded off by Devin Haney Promotions’ Darren Cunningham (13-0 7 KOs) persevering with his professional rise.