“There’s a few super-fights in this division, it’s buzzing, and I want to be the man. If I keep winning, I will be”.
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“[This fight] is a bit of a gamble”, Selby said.
“I had to get rid of the distractions around camp that were keeping me from fully focusing on the task at hand and how important boxing is to me”.
“I have got a young daughter and my pregnant girlfriend, so there are a lot of sacrifices you have got to make in boxing if you want to be the best”. “It motivates me to win”. My mindset has been the same – I’m focused, working out in the gym and looking to put on a good performance.
“I’ve watched the likes of Floyd Mayweather train, and I’ve picked up so much from watching other fighters train”.
Meanwhile, the champion Lee Selby has followed about as prototypical a prospect’s rise as can be followed; he won the title in his last fight from Evgeny Gradovich via technical decision on cuts, but before that, Selby went from fighting tomato cans (including the legendary Peter Buckley, in Buckley’s penultimate fight and 256th (!) pro loss), to fighting minor prospects, to fighting British contenders for minor British Boxing Board of Control and Commonwealth-British Empire titles, to the win over Gradovich. Montiel is vying for a world title in a fourth weight class in this bout, so he must be respected as a former champion with a lot of fighting under his belt.
“I honestly believe that (Selby) chose the wrong guy to fight”, stated the 36-year-old Montiel. My attitude is totally different. I am a world champion. “We find the right solution and we maximise the earnings for every one of our individual clients”.
What’s also encouraging when it comes to Lee Selby is his willingness to travel to the United States to purse major opportunities. Selby against Josh Warrington at Elland Road next summer. Ther are a few fights and a few shots from which fighters never fully recover, and Montiel has been seen as past his prime since the Donaire KO.
Selby has set his sights high but conquering a demanding and unforgiving American audience could prove to be the biggest test of his career.
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The Mexican might be 36 now and a veteran of 60 fights, but he has won world titles at flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight and his last defeat came over four years ago. And Selby, with the American market already curious about him, could soon be a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.
