Kevin Lele Sadjo (proper) stepped in as a late substitute to face Jack Cullen in December 2021 and ended up successful the European tremendous middleweight title by sixth-round stoppage. (Picture by Alex Livesey/Getty Pictures)
Rising tremendous middleweight Kevin Lele Sadjo will put his European title on the road for the primary time towards Emre Cukur at La Palsestre in Le Cannet, France, on Saturday.
The aggressive Frenchman expects to make a press release through the use of his type to interrupt Cukur down.
“Emre Cukur has good actions, however he’s not going to hunt battle; he’s going to wish to keep away from the showdown,” Sadjo (18-0, 16 knockouts) advised The Ring by promoter Yohan Zaoui.
“I’m going to place horrible stress on him, and he received’t maintain out till the top. I’ve to do away with him. This man can’t compete with me. After the fifth or sixth spherical, he shall be asphyxiated. I’ll knock him out.”
Sadjo was a proficient newbie who received the French nationwide title at 178 kilos in 2017. He turned skilled that very same yr and initially fought as a light-weight heavyweight however has labored his approach right down to tremendous middleweight. The all-action fighter later defeated Walter Sequeira (TKO 10) and Ronnie Landaeta (UD 10).
Nevertheless, his large break got here final December when, sarcastically, he stepped in to interchange Cukur on 10 days’ discover to face Jack Cullen for the vacant EBU title.
The weigh-in illustrated the huge peak distinction between Cullen and Sadjo. (Picture by Anthony Devlin/PA Pictures through Getty Pictures)
“I took up the problem regardless of not being in high [shape] bodily,” mentioned Sadjo, who scored a formidable sixth-round stoppage over Cullen on the Joseph Parker-Derek Chisora undercard. “I knew the answer was to interrupt his ribs — I used to be proper. It could have been a shock for the English followers, however not for me. I knew I used to be going to go residence with the belt.”
Regardless of the title win, Sadjo’s efforts to advance his profession have been initially stymied as he went with no combat for a number of months.
“I modified promoter in the summertime, I now work with the very best French crew and I don’t wish to waste any extra time,” mentioned the 32-year-old, who has ready for the combat in his hometown of Creteil, France, for eight weeks. “I wish to combat three or 4 instances a yr and towards large opponents. Y12 Boxing is the answer. Yohan Zaoui is an actual boxing skilled and an excellent enterprise man, we’ll obtain nice issues collectively.”
Zaoui, the president of Y12 Boxing, says his fledgling firm may be very formidable and expects Sadjo to push for world honors in the end.
“I have to clearly propel the French fighters to the highest of the rankings,” mentioned Zaoui. “France has all the time been filled with nice expertise; the issue was who ran the enterprise. Y12 Boxing will change lots of issues.
“Kevin should shortly enter the highest 5 of the 4 [sanctioning bodies.] He’ll show that he’s already a part of the very best on the planet. Cukur isn’t a fighter on Kevin’s stage, and he’ll display it on November 19. After this protection, I wish to make him face a high fighter, and why not within the USA?”
Cukur (19-1-1, 3 KOs) turned skilled in 2016. The German-born fighter of Turkish descent received his first 14 fights earlier than tasting defeat towards Davide Faraci (UD 8) in 2020. The 29-year-old has rebounded with 5 wins, most notably besting European stalwarts Siarhei Khamitski (UD 8) and Geard Ajetovic (UD 10). Nevertheless, most just lately, he was held to a draw towards Hadillah Mohoumadi (SD 8).
Questions and/or feedback might be despatched to Anson at [email protected].
