'Influencers are good for boxing' - Undefeated Mehdi Ghoualem on recent win, sparring a Team GB boxer in London, Paul vs Fury, Davis-Garcia and more
Here's what the Frenchman said in a recent interview
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Mehdi Ghoualem extended his unbeaten record to 5-0 on February 18 when he outclassed Mikheil Gabinashvili to capture a wide points win. His third 6-rounder in a row, the man nicknamed ‘3 lungs’ is building serious momentum as he continues to improve his professional resume.
“Honestly, I feel good. I see with my team, my trainer said to me, fight-to-fight, I’m getting better. So, I’m good.”
Some promoters in the UK are starting to take notice too as the Frenchman was invited to London around one month ago to spar with a Team GB boxer.
“Guys from London told me to come to do some sparring with a boxer from the GB team and this guy was the same weight as me. So I felt good in sparring. The trainer liked me and recorded a video of the sparring and he sent it to many promoters. He said to me ‘When I have a bag, I will tell you.’”
And Ghoualem is open to the prospect of moving to the UK permanently if he can secure a lucrative contract.
“It depends on the contract. It depends on many things. If I move to the UK and he gives me money every month, I would. It depends on the contract, how many fights, and different stipulations. But if it’s a good opportunity, then yes I can.”
Apart from boxing, the super lightweight prospect recently took part in a photoshoot and would welcome future modelling opportunities.
“Yeah, I tried to do it because a girl called me to do experiments in this field. I appreciate it, I like it. But honestly, I don’t really have a contact. So I want to do it, but I don’t have a stable contact.
I’m not sure if I should do something because one girl saw me and tried with me. I was open and she liked the shoot. Everything was ok but she had problems in her life so she stopped with me. So, I’m open if I have an opportunity. But, at the moment, I don’t have a steady contact.”
Ghoualem continued by explaining why he chose to wear a Call of Duty outfit in his last fight and how playing video games help him recover from boxing.
“I do Call of Duty because I play this game and I really like it. When your mind is always on fighting, you just think boxing, you eat boxing, you live boxing, and you get a tired mentality. For rest, sometimes I play with my friend, video games like Call of Duty. So, for fun, I do these things.”
The Frenchman also gave his opinion on the rise of influencer boxing and believes bouts such as Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury are promoting the sport in a positive way.
“I think it’s good for boxing because these influencers have many followers and shed a big light on the sport. Because sometimes boxing is dead and it’s a good opportunity for other boxers to fight on the same card.”
Despite both Paul and Fury receiving large amounts of criticism from the public and those in the boxing fraternity, Ghoualem respects both fighters and considers them legitimate pro boxers. However, ‘3 lungs’ is not a fan of other celebrity boxers who don’t take the sport seriously.
“For me, you have two different guys. Like Jake Paul, I respect Jake Paul because this guy trains like a real boxer. He has a training camp, sparring, he has everything, strength, and conditioning. I think we can say that Jake Paul is a true boxer.
“I saw his last fight with Tommy Fury and I saw his level. He’s not a great boxer, he can’t become a world champion or something like that, he doesn’t have the level. But for what he does, he’s good. I’ve seen in my life ‘real’ boxers who don’t have the level of Jake Paul.
“So I respect Jake Paul because he takes boxing seriously. You have other influencers who try but these boxers are bad. They don’t train. They just do videos saying ‘I want to fight’ and when you see these guys in the ring. They don’t do a training camp, they don’t have sparring, they don’t have anything. If you decide to box, do it properly like Jake Paul. He trains like a veteran; he does something good.
“He goes for the truth. Like I said, he does a real training camp. Actually, he trains for truth. You have other guys who don’t train for truth. They want to fight but they don’t have the level.”
As for the Paul-Fury fight itself, Ghoualem was not able to watch the full spectacle but reiterated that both boxers should be considered professional.
“Honestly, I just saw highlights. I didn’t see the full fight. So I can’t say, but Tommy Fury looks like a real boxer too. I don’t know this boxer. I never saw a fight of the guy. I just saw these highlights. When you’re a boxer, when you watch boxing, you know if this guy is true or false. So, both of them looked like true boxers.”
Speaking of ‘true’ boxers, it has been reported that Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia is scheduled for April 22nd in Las Vegas. And ‘3 Lungs’ is confident Davis will emerge victorious.
“I think everybody knows who wins. For me, Gervonta Davis has something that previous boxers have never had. He’s very strong like Mike Tyson, he has good boxing skills, a good mind, he does smart work and I’ve seen many times he’s in a good position to punch and good timing.
“You know to fight tall guys like Garcia, he’s fought many guys like that. [Leo] Santa Cruz , he’s fought many tall guys and he knows how to fight them. And he’s fought real champions. He has fought many world champions. He’s been a world champion in three different weight divisions.
“Garcia has never fought with a real champion. He fought with [Luke] Campbell, a former gold medallist. That’s good, but after Campbell who? Before Campbell, who? And when you see Campbell in professional boxing, Campbell has lost with everybody. With [Vasyl] Lomachenko, with Garcia, with many boxers.
“Campbell is a good amateur boxer but not a champion of champions. He’s a champion but not the champion of champions. Gervonta Davis has won against the champion of champions. You have a champ and then you have the champ of champ. And Garcia has fought with nobody. But for me, boxing is boxing, anyone can win. But on paper, I think it's Davis.”
Watch the full interview with Mehdi Ghoualem below:
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