BRITISH CHALLENGER AND former Olympic gold medallist Luke Campbell says he sparred three opponents at a time in an attempt to prepare himself for his lightweight world-title fight with Ukrainian pound-for-pound star Vasyl Lomachenko.
The Hull native [20-2, 16KOs] faces Lomachenko [13-1, 10KOs], himself a two-time Olympic champion, live on Sky Sports Box Office from the O2 Arena in London this Saturday, where the WBA, WBO and the vacant WBC titles will be on the line.
The Eastern European has stopped six of his last seven opponents, causing four of them to forfeit on their stools either through the battering dished out or sheer humiliation, but the Shane McGuigan-trained Campbell is doing his best to ensure he’s not overwhelmed by Loma’s fleet footwork and clever angles this weekend.
Speaking to GQ UK, Campbell said: “The only thing that I have been doing that is very different is sparring three people at once. So three guys in the ring against me.
“It was good, but obviously it is really difficult at first. You get punches coming at you from all angles and from unexpected areas, but it certainly makes you sharp.”
The Briton, who fell just short against Jorge Linares in his only world-title shot to date (Linares would later become one of Lomachenko’s stoppage victims), is more than familiar with Lomachenko given they used to frequent the same major international tournaments before they each turned professional following the London Olympics in 2012.
Campbell beat Ireland’s John Joe Nevin to take gold in his native land but never faced Lomachenko as an amateur due to their operating in different weight classes.
However, he’s not overawed by the significant task facing him in the professional ring when both he and ‘Hi-Tech’ return to the English capital in four days’ time.
“To be honest, I have been watching him for years and we had been to loads of the same amateur events,” Campbell said. “I knew who he was and I’ve watched some of his fights, but I didn’t concentrate on him because he wasn’t fighting in my weight division and I didn’t need to.
“I was waiting to see if the WBC was going to announce who was going to be in the rankings for their vacant title, so I didn’t know who I was going to fight. Then when they put Lomachenko in there I knew that he was the man I’d have to beat to become a world champion.
“The truth is I didn’t care who I was fighting. All I want is to be a world champion and I will take on anyone to achieve that.”
