Kevin Lele Sadjo sets his sights on the international stage as he takes on Durvel Palacio
On Thursday, unbeaten super middleweight Kevin Lele Sadjo will face Durvel Palacio at Zenith de Paris-La Villette, Paris, France. Sadjo, who previously held the European title before vacating that and is attempting to move into International class against his South American opponent. “I think I have proven [myself] by dominating Europe, by beating my opponents […]
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On Thursday, unbeaten super middleweight Kevin Lele Sadjo will face Durvel Palacio at Zenith de Paris-La Villette, Paris, France.
Sadjo, who previously held the European title before vacating that and is attempting to move into International class against his South American opponent.
“I think I have proven [myself] by dominating Europe, by beating my opponents three times in EBU championship [fights], all of them by knockout, who were all official challengers,” Sadjo (22-0, 20 knockouts) told The Ring.
“So it’s logical that I now have to prove that I belong to the best in the world, and for that, I have to beat the world’s top fighters. I know that a big fight is coming soon, my promoter knows his job and he will bring me the right fight, at the right time, against the right opponent.”
The 34-year-old Frenchman isn’t overlooking Palacio but expects his own style to take help him care of business.
“Palacio is a good boxer, he is dangerous,” said the unbeaten fighter. “I have seen some videos, but he has never faced a fighter who puts as much pressure as me, my work of destruction will pay off again.”
Sadjo will be fighting for a WBC regional title and feels that will help move him closer to his ultimate target of a world title shot.
“Taking the WBC Silver title left by (Jaime) Munguia (not recognized by The Ring) will allow me to climb further in the rankings and my goal is clear: To become world champion, no matter who it is against,” he said.
Sadjo was largely unknown outside his homeland when he stepped in at late notice to stop Jack Cullen in six-rounds for the vacant European title, in December 2021.
He stayed active with a couple of non-title bouts but was only able to defend his title twice, most recently, stopping experienced Giovanni De Carolis in eight-rounds.
“I faced an experienced fighter who fought at a very high level and I felt it,” said Sadjo. “He had very dangerous reactions, but my plan worked. Stick to him as much as possible and constantly work on the body, the body work was unbearable for him and his corner made the right decision to stop him.”
The super middleweight division will undergo some changes in the coming months and Sadjo hopes to make the most of that and advance his own ambitions to face boxing royalty.
“(David) Benavidez and (David] Morrell) will go to light heavyweight since they cannot get the fight against Canelo,” he said “However the problem will remain the same, as long as Canelo holds the four belts, the super middleweight category will always depend on Canelo’s decision for the title challengers. So the place to take today is to be Canelo’s mandatory challenger, and to be credible to face him.”
His promoter, Yohan Zaoui, the President of Y12 Boxing, also feels now is the perfect moment for his fighter to push forward for a world title shot.
“([Palacio) is not an easy opponent, he is dangerous and he will come to win,” said Zaoui. “However Kevin has the ambition to become world champion, so a defeat against Palacio is unthinkable.
“I think Kevin has progressed enormously, he is ready for big fights, the opportunity will logically arrive and in the meantime he must remain active and reach the position of mandatory challenger.”
Palacio (13-2, 10 KOs) has been a professional since 2012 but had various spells of inactivity along the way. The Argentine fighter remained unbeaten through nine fights before suffering back-to-back loses to Juan Cruz Cacheiro (MD 6) and Braian Suarez (TKO 7).
The 33-year-old has since won four fights to claim the South American super middleweight title and also the Argentinean light heavyweight title.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk.
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