By Ben Jacobs
It should come as no surprise to boxing fans that Gabriel Campillo would accept a fight against Russian power-puncher Artur Beterbiev, after all, the Spaniard is accustomed to taking on tough challenges away from home. A look at his record will show the names of Sergey Kovalev, Tavoris Cloud and Beibut Shumenov, why not add the Quebec-based hitter to the list?
Campillo was in good spirits when speaking to BoxingScene from his home in Madrid, just a day after the fight was officially announced.
"It's a great thing to be able to fight on CBS in front of so many people. It's a fight that people seem to like.
"I'll be honest, I haven't sat down to analyze or study him yet, but I heard that he had a few problems in his last fight. When we do sit down to look at him we will look at things like that, his mistakes, his movements and tactics. Let's hope we can take advantage of any weaknesses he may have.
"I was surprised that he knocked Cloud out so quickly. Even if Cloud wasn't at his best, he's still always a strong fighter who is very aggressive. It was surprising for everybody how he stopped him so quickly."
Despite his fearsome reputation, Beterbiev has only had seven professional contests and, has yet to pass four rounds. 'Chico Guapo' believes that could be of benefit to him if the fight goes long.
"I think it plays into my favour in that he hasn't been beyond four rounds. At the same time I'm not going to get overconfident about that. But perhaps if the fight does go long and I don't get knocked out in the first few rounds, which can also happen, perhaps circumstances become more favourable to me. I feel more comfortable in fights which go the distance but we don't know how he will be. If it goes past six or seven rounds we don't know how he will be, we know that I will be fine as my best boxing is always in the second half of fights."
It was also announced last week that Campillo signed a contract with Al Haymon who is currently changing the landscape of boxing in the United States in terms of the sport's reemergence on national television.
"It's an important step in terms of looking for the big fights against the best opponents," he said, in regards to signing with Haymon.
"I think it can be very good for my career. Let's be honest, I am in the latter part of my career in terms of my age. So, I think yes, it's a very good thing. Things always come at the right moment, that's my opinion. Fights on free to air television benefit the sport of boxing, people get to see fights on various channels so it's a really good thing what is happening."
Campillo was rumoured to have been lined up to fight WBC champion Adonis Stevenson on more than one occasion. In terms of that bout occurring down the line there are no guarantees.
"Who knows in boxing, maybe if I beat Beterbiev I'll have to have another fight before a world title shot, but I am aware that I'm at number two in the IBF and five in the WBC so I am close to it. I just want to carry on winning and doing well.
"I feel that I'm at the right moment in my career physically and mentally, I feel as strong as ever, let's hope that is reflected in the ring. I'm really up for this.
"I'm going to Germany on April 1 to spar with Robin Krasniqi, I'll be there for two weeks and then continue my training in Spain. He is fighting Jurgen Braehmer so we can help each other out."
In closing, Gabriel also offered his take on the battle between Jean Pascal and his former opponent Sergey Kovalev.
"Having fought with Kovalev, well, he was a very strong guy! Maybe I wasn't 100% for that fight but he was very strong and is very dangerous. Furthermore, this is his moment, he's a world champion and full of confidence so it's very difficult for anyone to beat him. In a world championship fight it's always hard for both boxers, Pascal will try to make life difficult for Kovalev. Let's hope it's a good fight."
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