Lee Selby has been boosted by training alongside the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather ahead of his Welsh homecoming on Friday 25th May at the Newport Sports Centre.
The Barry star has just finished a training stint at Mayweather’s Las Vegas gym as he prepares for his Commonwealth Featherweight title defence against Patrick Okine which is live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 456/Virgin Ch. 546).
Selby also saw first hand Mayweather’s preparations for his super-fight against Miguel Cotto which takes place this Saturday (5th May) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is also live on BoxNation.
“It was a fantastic trip and well worth it to be in the same same gym as the number one boxer in the world,” said the 25-year-old who created a huge upset last September when he beat Stephen Smith.
“I worked a lot with Floyd’s uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather on the pads and he showed me plenty of new things as well as getting plenty of world class sparring with guys in the gym like unbeaten Australian featherweight Joel Brunker who’s number three in the world,”
“The experience of being around the best fighters in the world has really opened my eyes and given me the motivation to be the best that I can be in my career,”
“Before I left I had my photo taken with Floyd and he wished me luck and said he’d keep a look out for me on the internet to see how my career goes and that I was welcome back to the gym anytime, which is real nice,”
“They allowed us to stay and watch Floyd’s training for the Cotto fight and it was awe-inspiring stuff,”
“He’s looking as sharp as a razor and is super fit, I saw him doing eight minute rounds sparring with only a 15 second rest in between, he’s unbelievable,”
“Cotto’s tough and is his best challenger so far, but Floyd’s just on a different level to anyone and I can see him stopping Cotto late or on points.”
He’ll need all the benefits from training with Mayweather against the dynamite punching Ghanaian Okine who has stopped nine out of his 11 winning victories early. Okine is currently on a KO run with his last five fights all ending early.
Selby, who also holds the British title which won’t be on the line, added, “Obviously Okine’s a hard puncher, but this doesn’t bother me, I’m in the business of facing hard punchers,”
“He’s only got one loss on points to Emmanuel Tagoe who’s a good fighter himself so it’s going to be a tough job for me, but no one is going to upset my first fight in Wales for nearly a year,”
“These African’s are tough, hard, boys and I’ve sparred with plenty, but this is the first in my career. I can see myself winning by late stoppage or points.”
Selby v Okine for the Commonwealth Featherweight Championship headlines an action packed card that also features some of Britain’s best unbeaten prospects: Birmingham welterweight Frankie Gavin, super-featherweight Craig Evans, light-welterweights Lewis Rees and Francis Robinson and middleweight Liam Williams.
*NOTE TO SPORTS EDITORS – PHOTO OF LEE SELBY WITH FLOYD MAYWEATHER* Please click here for a photo of Lee Selby with Floyd Mayweather that is free for you to use. If you have trouble downloading the photo, please send me an email and I will send it to you.
Tickets priced at £40, £50 and £60 are available from the Frank Warren Promotions Box Office on 01992 550 888, Newport Sports Centre Box Office on 01633 656 757 or online at www.frankwarren.tv
Selby v Okine will be live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 456/Virgin Ch. 546) on Friday 25th May.
BoxNation is the first dedicated subscription boxing TV channel in the UK to bring together the biggest names in amateur, domestic and international boxing with an unbeatable schedule of matches from across the globe.
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