Dan Azeez is drawing on inspiration from the retired Carl Froch as he prepares to fight for the first time since suffering his first defeat.
The 34 year old lost to Joshua Buatsi in February over 12 competitive rounds, and on Saturday against Croatia’s Hrvoje Sep he fights to make a quick return to the level that made him the British, Commonwealth and European light-heavyweight champion.
It will not have escaped him that promoters Boxxer had planned to stage at Selhurst Park the sought-after fight between Buatsi and Anthony Yarde – one that could instead have involved him in the event of victory. He instead features on the undercard of the WBO cruiserweight title fight between the champion Chris Billam-Smith and Richard Riakporhe, and does so in the knowledge that victory can contribute to him capitalising on the uncertainty that continues to exist at 175lbs.
He reflected on the example provided by Froch, another fighter whose drive and determination – not unlike Azeez – contributed to him fulfilling his potential over the course of a decorated career. More specifically Froch avenged the first of his defeats – by Mikkel Kessler – and responded to the second by Andre Ward by stopping Lucian Bute in a fight in which he was in the underdog and that revived his career when defeat may have left him with nowhere to turn.
“It’s no good me coming back and having two defeats,” Azeez said. “There’s still the pressure of, ‘I’ve got to get this win’. Whether I’ve been defeated or not, the pressure’s still there. I’m not saying it’s a negative thing – that’s what builds character. It shows what people are made of.
“Everyone always goes in there, ‘I don’t have the mindset of a loser; I don’t ever think I’m gonna lose’, but every fight I’ve gone into I’ve always had the thought of, ‘I can lose’, because I know boxing. The best of the best have lost. The greats have lost to people they should never have lost to. I never ever go in there thinking, ‘That can’t happen to me’.
“It’s not, ‘I don’t feel invincible anymore’, it’s, ‘The comeback – I can show my character’. When everything’s going well, it’s all good to say, ‘Yeah, I’m the best’, but when it’s not going your way, how do you come back? That’s what I like about my favourite boxers. It’s not about they’re the most skilful; they’re undefeated. No. I liked to see them in adversity. That’s when I know, ‘This guy’s got character’.
“People like Carl Froch – a lot of people would be like, ‘He’s not the most skilful’, but he’s got balls. He’s one of my favourite British fighters. He doesn’t give a toss, and I like that. You show your balls; you show your heart; you show what you’re made of. That’s what I feel more pressure about. ‘The real me’s gonna come out – what am I made of?’ That’s what inspires me.”
Azeez is aware that a second defeat would put him at risk of missing out on lucrative future fights with his admired domestic rivals, and also that he risks becoming an “opponent” when the time will soon come for the promising Ben Whittaker, who against Eworitse Ezra Arenyeka also fights on the undercard at Selhurst Park, to have his first true test.
“I’m back in very quickly and I’m happy,” he said ahead of the fight with the 38-year-old Sep. “He’s good; good amateur pedigree; been in there with some good opponents. One of his two defeats was against [Latvia’s Ricards] Bolotniks – a good fighter I know a lot about, and he pushed him to the edge, so I know he’s gonna really bring it, which is good, because I didn’t want to just come back to a dull fight.
“I need someone that’s gonna push me, and I know he sees this as an opportunity to get himself into the mix, so it’s exactly what I need.”
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