‘Sitting on the bathroom was excruciating – I believed my boxing dream was over’

Dan Azeez felt like his boxing profession may very well be taking place the pan when again ache made sitting on the bathroom complete agony.

The London light-heavyweight is lastly set to face outdated pal Joshua Buatsi this weekend at Wembley Arena. The long-time mates had been alleged to sq. off again in October till a again damage compelled Azeez to drag out in battle week.

That left the 34-year-old Lewisham native fearing not solely had he missed an opportunity to stun Buatsi, however that father time could also be catching up with him. “Before I got all the scans and it checked, I thought it could be the end of me,” stated Azeez.

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“There are people who have had this back injury and then that’s it. I was thinking, ‘I build myself up to this point and headlining, fighting an Olympian, in contention for a world title and in the blink of an eye it is taken away from me?’.

“I was very emotional but once we got the results back, got things put in place and the rescheduled date, I was pleased. There’s fighters who have had injuries and then that’s it. I was grateful that wasn’t going to be my story.”

There had been rumours swirling round boxing that the battle was pulled due to poor ticket gross sales on the unique venue of the O2. But Azeez insists these claims are nothing greater than hypothesis.

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“I was at a back specialist the day it got pulled,” he stated. “Once the specialist had said the fight is off, that’s when I was really concerned. I was in such a bad way, I could hardly walk.

“Even sitting on the toilet left me in excruciating pain. Sitting in a car, I had to lie down, it was crazy. I was very emotional and thinking ‘what’s going to happen?’.”

Azeez is nicely into his 30s however, with simply 20 skilled bouts, the finance graduate turned fighter believes he’s nonetheless a younger man within the sport. But he is aware of this conflict for his British and Commonwealth crowns is one he has to win with a world-title shot up for grabs.

The pair have recognized one another for 10 years and shared the ring for sparring on many events. Yet this can be a battle Buatsi, who’s now 30, is anticipated to win together with his Rio Olympics pedigree and promise to achieve the highest of the division.

But Azeez is out to spoil his outdated good friend’s plans in a giant manner. He stated: “I didn’t have no red carpet laid out for me when I turned professional. Every fight is a life changing opportunity.

“I’m the underdog. He’s never been in a fight when he’s the underdog. It is familiar territory for me. He’s got a lot of pressure on him as the Olympian. He’s also got pressure because people thought he would be further on in his career than he is at the moment.

“Maybe he might feel the pressure in that sense but it could give him more of a drive. My mind is fully focused on what I’m coming up against.”