Prince Patel travelled to Cairo this week to continue his globetrotting efforts on the back of disappointment in an IBO title clash.
Bidding for the bantamweight crown on the Amir Khan undercard, Patel was beaten convincingly by Michell Banquez.
Now refreshed and giving himself little time to think about the loss, Patel will battle Tanzanian Iddi Kayumba at the ACE Club in Victory Square, Degla Maadi on Saturday night.
Speaking exclusively to WBN before his reverse to Banquez, Patel explained his decision to leave the UK behind.
“When I was with Frank Warren, I had two fights a year,” he said. “As a young fighter trying to make something of himself in the sport – that’s just not enough.
“It just felt to me like they were just waiting to throw me in a big 50/50 fight. That doesn’t help me; that would help them.
“I needed progression for my career. I needed the right fights at the right time. If they weren’t willing to do that for me, I was looking to find someone who would. If someone wasn’t, then I’ll just do it myself.
“I would never have signed with them if they told me I’d be fighting once or twice a year,” added Patel.
Patel v Kayumba will have the Africa Boxing Union championship on the line.
Also on Saturday, fellow Brit Anthony Yarde aims to rip the WBO light-heavyweight title from seasoned veteran Sergey Kovalev.
Speaking ahead of the bout, Yarde and Kovalev are promising an all-action fight.
“This is my first time in Russia. I’m enjoying myself, I’ve been treated well and I’m enjoying the country but I’m not nervous. This is why I’m smiling so much. Because where I’ve come from, I’ve rose very quickly to be here, so I’m happy to be at this level and I’m going to make the most of it,” said Yarde.
“No disrespect to Kovalev, he’s been a champ for a long time, he’s unified, he’s been there and done it. I’m very ambitious and I’m literally just hungry and I want to get to that stage and change my life. I’m sure he wanted to change his life when he started so I’m at that stage now and I’m just aggressive with my approach and how hungry I am.”
“Life is about challenges and you don’t know if you can do something until you try. I’m here to do a job. It don’t matter who the crowd is rooting for, Kovalev would probably say the same… once you get in the ring, it’s you and your opponent and that’s all that matters.”
KRUSHER
Kovalev stated: “We did have an offer (from Canelo Alvarez) but we can talk about that after Saturday night. Official agreements were already made with Antony Yarde. My primary task is to defend the title. If the fight is still interesting for Canelo afterwards then OK.
“I understand Anthony Yarde’s ambitions. He calls himself a lion but to me he is a cub. He is so young. I will have to get rid of all that baby fur off his skin so he will run away back home. It is clear he comes here and he wants to be like that. I have this experience. Now is my time.
“The plans are to have all the belts and become an absolute champion. I think there should be only one champion. We have four in our weight division, it’s not quite clear who is strongest. It would be great to decide amongst us who is strongest.
“He thinks that he will knock me out but Saturday will show to everybody what will be exactly. He has had a lot of fights and he’s won them by KO but Saturday will show.”
