Zhanat Zhakiyanov: “Parejo Won’t Know What’s Hit Him”

Zhanat Zhakiyanov says Yonfrez Parejo won’t know what’s hit him when the pair meet in Monte Carlo next month.

The heavy-handed Kazakh challenges Parejo for the interim WBA bantamweight on November 7 and believes his power will be too much for the well-travelled Venezuelan.

Parejo has only lost once in 19 professional bouts and picked up the crown by halting countryman Luis Hinojosa in August last year, but Zhakiyanov is adamant the South American’s winning run will end inside the distance.

“Anyone who wins a version of a world title has to be a very good fighter and I am sure Parejo will give me a very tough fight, but I believe I have too much for him,” Zhanat said. “I have knocked out my last 12 opponents and on November 7th, I will make it 13.

“Parejo will probably think he can box his way through the fight and hold onto his title. He’s in for a shock. When I land, he will not know what has hit him.

“I was a very good puncher before Ricky Hatton started training me, but I have become much stronger since and, while I can do 12 rounds easily, I go into every fight knowing I’m capable of scoring a knockout.”

Thanks to the exploits of Gennady Golovkin and Beibut Shumenov, Kazakh boxing is going through something of a golden age and Zhakiyanov believes he has the attributes to also become a national hero in the former Soviet nation.

He said: “Winning a world title is a dream, not just for me, but also for my country. Golovkin and Shumenov have both taken WBA titles back to Kazakhstan and I aim to too.

“I already have a big fan base back home and I made a lot of people happy when I knocked out [Karim] Guerfi for the European belt, but winning a world title would be something much bigger. It would make the whole of Kazakhstan proud.”