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Sheffield KO king – Adam Etches, will meet someone equally capable of finishing a fight inside the distance when he appears on the undercard of Kell Brook Vs Vyacheslav Senchenko, on Saturday, October 26.
The middleweight, 22, will defend his IBF Youth title against Brazilian banger Alexandre Mendes in a match-up that’s unlikely to go the distance.
Mendes, while being something of an unknown quantity, has a record of ten wins with nine stoppages, while Etches has halted ten of his 12 professional opponents.
“I don’t know much about him but with a record like that he can clearly punch,” Etches, who has recently returned to original trainer Andy Marlow, said.
“Anyone who follows boxing knows that in your early career you fight people who know how to survive, so for him to be knocking them out shows he must be good.
“Obviously, I’ll be the favourite, but I’ll have to be on my guard and make sure I bring my ‘A’ game. I want to be fighting people like Chris Eubank Jnr and Billy Joe Saunders so I can’t afford to slip up in this fight.”
Like when an unheralded Briedis Prescott came to England and shocked Amir Khan in 2008, Mendes believes this is an opportunity to make his name outside of South America with another KO.
He said: “This is a big fight for me, my first title shot and first away from home. I’m not worried though. Etches is obviously a good boxer, but I’m not travelling all the way to England to lose. I expect to knock him out.”
