Nigerian boxer Raphael Akpejiori is lobbying to be a sparring partner to heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury ahead of his bout with WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Anthony Joshua.
The Nigerian heavyweight contender has knocked out all eight of his opponents and will attempt to continue his destructive record against Joshua Tuani in Miami on Saturday.
Akpejiori says his devastating power and track record qualifies him as an sparring partner for Tyson Fury.
“If he wants to come to Miami to spar, he is guaranteed to have high-quality sparring. It would be a great place for him,” Akpejiori told Sky Sports.
“If he wants to fight someone with devastating knockout power and he wants to prep for that, then he is going to have to come spar with me and with Christian, or the other heavyweights that are here. Especially me.
“It’s a great place for him, he should consider it.”
Akpejiori is experienced at the top level after sparring with Thun, another Florida-based prospect, who traded punches with Joshua ahead of the world champion’s knockout win over Kubrat Pulev.
“He (Thun) sparred with Joshua, a few months ago before Joshua’s last fight,” said Akpejiori. “I spar with him as often as possible.
“We’ve talked about the guys who have sparred him (Thun), their tendencies, their weaknesses and their strengths.
“He said AJ was a very athletic guy, who throws punches in combinations. He’s not a guy who will just throw a one-two, he’s a guy who will throw one-two-three-four.
“He thinks very highly of AJ. Anthony Joshua is a guy that you would learn a lot from in sparring.”
On his assesment of Deontey Wilder, Akpejiori said he “is a guy who throws bombs and no matter how far away he is, he’s closer than you think. Fury is more of a pot-shotter, he knows how to use the ring.
“These are the levels of sparring that I’m trying to tap into with Christian. He’s seen that level and every time I spar with Christian, I try to bring myself up to that level where I can extract the experience he has from multiple training camps.”
Akpejiori, however, is confident about stepping up his level – at par with Fury, Joshua and Wilder – to possibly challenge them on the ring.
“For me to get to that next level, the Anthony Joshua level, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk level, I really have to learn how to box in a very hostile situation and possibly get the knockout, but get to box and show a lot of maturity through a whole 12-round period.
“If the knockout comes, perfect. It always comes to me in spectacular fashion, but the goal is to develop and grow as a boxer with each fight.”
