Adam Azim targets lofty heights

RISING superstar Adam Azim has targeted a fight with former unified lightweight world champion George Kambosos once he returns from injury.

Azim, who is under the tutelage of Amir Khan, was scheduled to headline at York Hall last Friday (16) against Aram Fanyan but was forced to pull-out after his hand swelled up after one of his sparring sessions due to a severe infection.

He hopes to recover by August/September and has set himself lofty targets

for the year.

“I’d give George Kambosos a good fight,” Azim said. “I was surprised that [now undisputed champion Devin] Haney didn’t stop him because of the amount of shots that he was actually hitting George Kambosos with.

“I was surprised that he didn’t go down. But Haney is not really a powerpuncher. He’s more of a skilled fighter.”

Azim though is certain he has the power to halt Kambosos. “100 per cent. I definitely would [stop him],” he said.

“He’s a perfect fight for me.” Azim first hopes to get his fight with Ukrainian Fanyan, someone who he has described as a dangerous opponent, to be rescheduled.

“He’s definitely dangerous,” Azim said of Fanyan. “He’s enthusiastic to win.

“He’s going to be trying to win for his country. He’s not a guy to underestimate either so he’s a good opponent.

“This was the toughest fight of my career. I want to go into the fight fully prepared for it. I want to go into that fight with both hands. I want to give out a great performance.”

Azim has been earmarked as a future world champion with his blistering hand speed reminiscent of his mentor Khan.

The 20-year-old is unbeaten in eight fights with six ending with knockout wins. However, he has only fought once so far this year although he is grateful that his victory over Santos Reyes in February was a good workout.

“I was grateful to get the 10 rounds in,” Azim said. “It’s all about learning in this game. I thought that I paced the rounds really well, the guy was really tough. He can take a shot. I was hitting him with so many thunderous shots and he was standing there taking it. He was like a brick wall,” said Azim, who dropped Reyes in the ninth round.

“Normally referees would just stop it but he let him go on. I’m pretty sure throughout the whole fight he was just trying to defend. He wasn’t throwing much back. So I’m pretty sure these opponents who are just trying to survive, you’ve got to surprise them with the third or fourth shot,” he added.

“With me in that fight I was throwing too many single shots and not following up with the third and fourth. But for this camp I was doing a lot of combination punching in my sparring.

“I was looking phenomenal. I was doing a lot of rounds, training hard. It’s unfortunate that [injury] this happened.”

Azim has targeted being a world champion before his 22nd birthday. If he was to do that, it would see him grab a world belt at a younger age than Khan.

He, however, insists there is no competition with the former multiple times world champion. “Amir Khan has paved the way for British Asians in boxing. He’s such a lovely guy. I’ve spent a lot of time with now,” said Azim.

“He tells me what he did in training, he tells me different types of stuff to do in training, what he used to do when he was younger. “He’s been in massive fights, like [Marcos] Maidana, [Devon] Alexander, he’s fought in so many big fights and he can give me advice in future in my career