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Sven Fornling confident of victory against Dominic Boesel, seeks to become Sweden’s greatest fighter

Photo courtesy of Spring Media
Fighters Network
12
Nov

Swedish light heavyweight Sven Fornling will face Dominic Boesel in a scheduled 12-round contest at the Messehalle in Halle, Germany on Saturday.

Fornling (15-1, 7 knockouts) upset Karo Murat in Germany last December and is excited at the prospect of returning to enemy territory for a matchup against Boesel.

“It’s a good fight, and once again I will have to fight a local champion abroad – can’t wait,” Fornling told The Ring. “As long as the crowd go crazy, it doesn’t matter if they are cheering for me or him. Hearing them gives me the extra edge.

“The worst arena would be an empty one. Also, this is (an interim) title fight, so the judges must be neutral and accepted by my team.



“(Boesel) does most things well but a few things great. A key to the victory will be to take advantage of his stiff style and high guard.”

The 30-year-old Fornling had been due to face Artur Beteriev for the IBF 175-pound title in May, but those plans were shelved due to an unfortunate injury.

“I was just kicking off the training camp for that fight and I think I started out too hard,” Fornling explained. “I did some laps running and felt something strange in my leg. It just didn’t heal – it got worse and worse.

“Eventually, I had to go to a doctor and check it out. It was a stress fracture, a crack in the shinbone. That was a major setback, of course, and I had to walk with crutches for, I think, six weeks. After that, it’s been a long way back, but I really took my time and I’ve been patient.”

After losing the world title opportunity, Fornling’s attention shifted to Boesel when the fight was first suggested in July.

“Since then, I have been going at it like crazy,” he said. “I don’t really believe in training camps. I travelled to the U.K. and Germany for top sparring, but I train all I can, 12 times a week, no matter if I have a fight or not.

“My coach Carlos Zuniga and I work hard every day in Malmö. Since the Murat fight, we have done nothing else other than improving our game.”

One of Fornling’s aspirations is to change the way boxing is perceived at in his homeland. The sport was banned in Sweden for 36 years before being re-introduced in 2006.

“It is still a moral debate, but all it takes is one great fighter to change that and make boxing in Sweden great again,” Fornling said. “It’s one of my goals to do that and show that I’m the best Swedish boxer of all time.”

Fornling’s manager, Christoffer Cederblad, feels his fighter is capable of mixing it with anyone and is putting the division on notice.

“We are targeting everyone,” said Cederblad. “U.K. and U.S. is most likely the next step for Sven. Joshua Buatsi is a legit fighter and seems like a good bloke. Badou Jack? Sure if he wants it, we are here. But we take it fight by fight. Staying world champ and having all the belts is a long-term goal.”

Boesel (29-1, 11 KOs) turned professional in 2010. The 29-year-old German won his first 24 outings before being stopped in 11 rounds by Fornling’s rival Murat in July 2017. Since then, Boesel has rebounded to win the European light heavyweight championship and made two defenses. The EBU title will not be on the line in this fight.


Editor’s Note: Fornling and Boesel will contest the vacant WBA interim light heavyweight title.

 

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright

 

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