Croatia’s explosive Heavyweight contender Alen Babic lit a fire under his clash with Shawndell Winters – and he’s ready to back up his fiery words with another big KO when they meet live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US.
Babic (3-0, 3 KOs) can enhance his growing reputation as ‘The Savage’ when he faces American Winters, and the 29-year-old has had the best possible preparation sparring with his manager and headline attraction Dillian Whyte in Portugal.
The pair may only be fighting over eight rounds but there will be huge interest following a tense press conference between the pair that almost spilled over – but now Babic wants to focus on the business at hand, proving that he can become a major force in the Heavyweight division.
“There’s no way he doesn’t get KO’d by me,” said Babic. “I don’t want to sound too cocky, but I’m too good, fast and strong for him. Joseph Parker did him in five rounds so I am going to try and do it in three or four rounds. This means a lot to me, to be on a big stage like this is huge, so many people will get to see me, they hadn’t heard of me before but now they will see me
“I am not here by accident, I trained for ten years for this, I’m ready now for everything so I don’t need to wait. Dillian is a very good manager and he understands that I don’t need ten easy fights to start with, I will just knock them out with in 50 seconds, it’s not worth it.
“I know Shawndell is tough and that’s why I like it. My last three fights have been over fast, I know that Shawndell will come to beat me and that’s why I like this fight, we’re going to entertain the fans. It’s critical for me to put on a good show, not just beat him up and KO him, but to entertain. I want to show people that I know how to box too.
“I love sparring with Dillian, it’s pure joy. I do my rounds with him and just enjoy it, we know what each other can do and we just go for it. He is harder with me in sparring than anyone else! I love that – I tell him to go all out because I am a sparring partner for him, so I want him to be at full power, I would be upset if he wasn’t, I’d have to punch him in the throat or something to make him angry!
“I think he’ll KO Povetkin – I have a lot of respect for him as a great professional and an Olympian, but I don’t see him beating Dillian much like Shawndell won’t beat me. I’m only in my first year as a pro and I spar with the best amateurs and of course with Dillian, but in the amateurs you never know who you are going to fight so this is nothing new to me, it’s a walk in the park.”
Babic vs. Winters lands on a huge night of action that sees Dillian Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) defend his Interim WBC Heavyweight World Title against Russia’s Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs), Irish legend Katie Taylor (15-0, 6 KOs) puts her WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine Lightweight crowns on the line against Belgium’s Delfine Persoon (44-2, 18 KOs) in the biggest rematch in women’s boxing, Luther Clay (13-1, 5 KOs) defends his WBO Global Welterweight Title against Chris Kongo (11-0, 6 KOs), Super-Middleweights Jack Cullen (18-2, 9 KOs) Super-Middleweights Jack Cullen (18-2, 9 KOs) and Zak Chelli (7-1, 3 KOs) meet over eight rounds.
