Steve Bendall is looking to de-rail the world title aspirations of a Scandinavian power-puncher later this month.
The cultured Coventry southpaw [pictured landing his right-leading jab against Darren Barker in 2008] travels to Denmark on December 17 to meet big-hitting Rudy Markussen and is targeting an upset over the come-backing former European champion.
Markussen has won all three of his contests since a four-year break in 2006 by stoppage - and his last two have arrived in the opening round. The ex-IBF world title challenger is also penciled in to box for the WBA Interim world 12st belt next year, against Belfast's Brian Magee, and sees the 38-year-old former two-time English middleweight champion as an ideal warm-up for the contest.
But Bendall, a former British, Commonwealth and European title challenger who was the first man to hand defeat to future British champion Paul Smith and who extended touted and 24-fight unbeaten German Dominik Britsch over eight in Germany in the summer, won't be the type who'll lie down when caught with the first big shot.
Though he's been stopped in four of his six paid defeats [29 wins, 14 early], the Poole-based stylist was on his feet at the time of the interventions and bravely firing back, protesting the referees decisions against Scott Dann, Wayne Elcock and former world champion Sebastian Sylvester.
But the 34-year-old local hero, looking to emulate countryman Mikkel Kessler as a world super-middleweight king, claims he's the hardest-hitting 12st fighter on the planet and that Bendall will be the 24th man [36 wins, two defeats] to go home with a stoppage loss on his record.
"Bendall is the last obstacle between me and a title fight," said the fired-up Dane, who has a reputation, as demonstrated in a seventh-round surrender against Sergey Tatevosyan five years ago, for mental fragility when under fire," so i will try and get him out of the way as soon as possible.
"I will not under-estimate him but i don't think he can keep up with my power. I will knock him out," he coldly added.
No comments:
Post a Comment