02-05-2017, 10:40 AM
Kiwi boxing heavyweight Junior Fa to fight on Deontay Wilder's world title undercard
The boxing career of New Zealand heavyweight Junior Fa continues to gather momentum with his first fight of the year set to come on the undercard of WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Last week Fa signed a three-year deal, which includes clauses for a possible fourth, with Lou DiBella, the former boss of HBO TV's boxing arm who has 70 fighters on his books including 37-0 American Wilder.
The deal will see the undefeated Fa (9-0) fight at least three times in the United States per year, flying over 15 days before every bout.
WBC Champion Deontay Wilder will defend his title against Gerald Washington in Alabama.
His first foray will be on the undercard of Wilder's title defence against Gerald Washington (18-0-1) on February 25 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, a venue which holds around 18,000.
Fa fought on the undercard of Joseph Parker's successful WBO title fight against Andy Ruiz in Auckland but this will be the biggest event of his budding professional career.
The 27-year-old, who has family based in California and Utah, will take on American journeyman Keith Barr (17-10-1) over six rounds and leaves this Friday.
"It's great to have my first fight of the year over in the States on a world title undercard," Fa said. "It's a big thing. This will be a new exciting experience for me.
"I've been training hard for the past few weeks because I know with me signing up with the promoter he'll want to step me up in class soon so I've got to make sure I'm fit. The skills will come with practice and experience.
"I looked him up on YouTube. He's shorter than me but he's got experience. He's southpaw and he loves to throw left hooks."
One year after turning professional, Fa felt he needed to take his boxing talents abroad to reach his potential and move out of Parker's shadow.
"After coming back to the sport I didn't know which path I would take. I always saw Duco there but I wasn't sure if that was the right route for me just because the way the sport is in New Zealand. Boxing is quite a new sport in this country and people aren't as behind it like they are with rugby and the like. That played in my head quite a lot for the first year.
"The class of boxing over there is a bit higher so it's going to be really good."
Parker's stablemate Izuagbe Ugonoh (17-0) also squares off against Amercian Dominic Breazeale (17-1) on the Wilder card.
- Stuff
The boxing career of New Zealand heavyweight Junior Fa continues to gather momentum with his first fight of the year set to come on the undercard of WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Last week Fa signed a three-year deal, which includes clauses for a possible fourth, with Lou DiBella, the former boss of HBO TV's boxing arm who has 70 fighters on his books including 37-0 American Wilder.
The deal will see the undefeated Fa (9-0) fight at least three times in the United States per year, flying over 15 days before every bout.
WBC Champion Deontay Wilder will defend his title against Gerald Washington in Alabama.
His first foray will be on the undercard of Wilder's title defence against Gerald Washington (18-0-1) on February 25 at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, a venue which holds around 18,000.
Fa fought on the undercard of Joseph Parker's successful WBO title fight against Andy Ruiz in Auckland but this will be the biggest event of his budding professional career.
The 27-year-old, who has family based in California and Utah, will take on American journeyman Keith Barr (17-10-1) over six rounds and leaves this Friday.
"It's great to have my first fight of the year over in the States on a world title undercard," Fa said. "It's a big thing. This will be a new exciting experience for me.
"I've been training hard for the past few weeks because I know with me signing up with the promoter he'll want to step me up in class soon so I've got to make sure I'm fit. The skills will come with practice and experience.
"I looked him up on YouTube. He's shorter than me but he's got experience. He's southpaw and he loves to throw left hooks."
One year after turning professional, Fa felt he needed to take his boxing talents abroad to reach his potential and move out of Parker's shadow.
"After coming back to the sport I didn't know which path I would take. I always saw Duco there but I wasn't sure if that was the right route for me just because the way the sport is in New Zealand. Boxing is quite a new sport in this country and people aren't as behind it like they are with rugby and the like. That played in my head quite a lot for the first year.
"The class of boxing over there is a bit higher so it's going to be really good."
Parker's stablemate Izuagbe Ugonoh (17-0) also squares off against Amercian Dominic Breazeale (17-1) on the Wilder card.
- Stuff