Mendy: I'm ready to step up after Prizefighter win - 21/09/2010

MAIDENHEAD fighter aiming for title shots in 2011

Prizefighter Super-Middleweight winner Patrick Mendy came face-to-face with five-time World Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield in London this month and said that he will start winning big belts in 2011.

Mendy collected a replica trophy from Holyfield after the 47 year-old conducted the draw for the next Prizefighter event – Heavyweights IV on October 9 at York Hall, with Reading’s Michael Sprott in the line-up – and the teenager who became the youngest Prizefighter winner told Steve Bunce on The Prizefighter Podcast that he is destined for big things next year.

Patrick Mendy gets the trophy from Evander Holyfield

“I'm still 19, I'll be 20 soon but I'm ready to step up and next year I'm targeting big things like the English and Commonwealth title,” said Mendy. “Before Prizefighter I was stuck, I couldn't get fights but winning it has put me up there now. I used to say to Jim “you need to get me fights” and he used to tell me “no-one wants to fight you.”

“The moment that I got the call to do Prizefighter I started the hardest training of my life - it pushed me so hard, and that's why I believed that I would win. I need to show people back in the Gambia what boxing is like – I was the first Gambian to win a gold medal for boxing for the country – and that helped me when I was going for the win in Prizefighter as it reminded me of that feeling. But now I am fighting for my supporters and friends here in England, and that is the most important thing.”

Mendy’s trainer Jim Evans exercised more caution when he spoke about the young star’s chances but said he’d been speaking to Prizefighter promoter Barry Hearn about Mendy fighting later in the year.

“I've sort of spoken to Barry Hearn and we're hoping to put him out in November – he's developing well and he just needs tidying up. We'll give him a couple of six rounders and a couple of eight rounders then in a year's time we'll be looking at him fighting for the Commonwealth title.

“The trouble with Patrick before Prizefighter was that although he had a fifty-fifty record, he was fighting good fighters and he was always giving weight and experience. I put him in Prizefighter just to give him a payday. I though Paul David was going to win it but I had a bet on Patrick to win and after I put that money down I knew he was going to do it – so that won me a couple of grand!

“The day after Prizefighter, Dean Powell called me and said that TV wants to know if we can make James DeGale versus Patrick Mendy and I said, he's got £32,000 in the bank Dean, we don't need it. Earlier this year, three times I asked Dean for DeGale, three times I asked George Groves and three times I asked Martin Murray - and three times all their people turned me down when I was looking to get him a payday. Patrick won't mind me saying that I was sponsoring him for all his living expenses so he needed a few quid, that's the name of the game.

“Patrick is a tough kid and although he's only young, you can take a chance with him where with another kid they can be a bit frail. African fighters generally are very strong, fit and tenacious but they waste 30 per cent of their punches in the round. Patrick says it's how they are taught there though, they haven't got much in the gym so you just have to fight hard but nobody is stopping you from making a mistake - so what I have to do is tighten up on his defence and look at his footwork, and make him throw fewer punches but more effectively.”

Old rivals Matt Skelton and Sprott could meet in the semi-finals at Prizefighter Heavyweights IV, potentially giving Sprott the chance to avenge two defeats against the former English, British European and Commonwealth champion Skelton – with Sprott returning to the ring for the first time since his last gasp knockout defeat to Audley Harrison in their European title bout in April.

Sprott faces Danny Hughes in the third quarter-final of the night, the Sunderland fighter who fought in the last Heavyweights outing, knocking out Neil Perkins in the quarter-finals before losing to Harrison in the semis. Skelton must get past Ali Adams in order to reach the semi-final with the London-based Adams unbeaten in his last nine fights with eight wins.

In the opening bout of the night, Irishman Kevin McBride – famous for being the last man to beat Mike Tyson – take on Manchester’s Michael Holden, the former British champion who has scores to settle with both Sprott and Skelton after losing to the pair earlier in his career.

The winner of that fight will face the winner of the second fight of the night as Carl Baker; the man who defeated Danny Williams in Prizefighter Heavyweights III faces the Wildcard fighter. Matchroom Sport Managing Director Eddie Hearn said the spot will be filled soon, with a series of big names in line for the final spot.

PRIZEFIGHTER HEAVYWEIGHTS IV DRAW
Michael Holden v Kevin McBride
Wildcard v Carl Baker
Michael Sprott v Danny Hughes
Matt Skelton v Ali Adams

Tickets for Prizefighter Heavyweights IV are available now – call Matchroom Sport on 01277 359900.