Middleweight prospect Islam Abdusamadov moves up to the six round distance when he takes on rugged Jose Manuel Gomez as part of “Thunder Showdown III,” presented by Upper Cut Promotions at the Venue at Thunder Valley at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California this Saturday night.
Abdusamadov (5-0, 2 KOs) of Santa Clara, California by way of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia may be short on professional experience, but is not short on confidence as he moves up in scheduled distance and in class on Saturday.
“I feel great,” says Abdusamadov. “I feel that I will beat him easily because I always train hard. I am always confident that I will beat anyone that fights me. I just feel like I can smash anybody.”
Abdusamadov will be taking a step-up in class against the battle-tested Gomez (4-5-1, 4 KOs) of Livermore, California. The veteran Gomez has been stopped just once and given unbeaten prospects tough rounds over his six-year career.
“I know he’s a tough guy, but I’ve fought tough guys before too,” says Abdusamadov. “It has never been too much for me. I know I can fight anyone. I think it will be easy for me.”
After going the full four-round distance in two consecutive fights, Abdusamadov is now ready to extend himself two additional rounds if need be. The power-puncher plans to make it a short night, but has complete faith that his preparation has readied him for distance.
“I want to finish him early,” says Abdusamadov. “I am not too worried about the last round, to be honest. I sparred more rounds; ten, twelve rounds sometimes. Before [my previous fights,] I sparred less. With the fight being six rounds, I worked on conditioning more and sparred more rounds. I like to start fast, fight aggressively and finish fast. It is a fight, so you never know what will happen. If it goes the six rounds, I am ready for six rounds, eight rounds. But if I can, I will finish him earlier.”
In his last bout, which took place this past March at Thunder Valley, Abdusamadov passed the test of Josias Gonzales, a scrappy southpaw that has been matched tough in his career, but fights to win. Abdusamadov went into the bout with his signature confidence, but despite scoring a knockdown, had to fight hard until the end to secure the unanimous decision.
“Before that fight, I did think it would come easy,” says Abdusamadov of the Gonzales encounter. “That guy was tough though. I did knock him down in the second round, but he kept coming and wanted to beat me. For me, Gonzales was my toughest fight out of my five fights. He was a southpaw and he was always busy. He’s a good fighter and tough and I like the tough fights. It was a good fight for my experience.”
As the competition increases, the pressure on an unbeaten fighter to maintain his record mounts. Abdusamadov, who has grown his fanbase fight-by-fight, is conscious of the importance placed on protecting his loss column and plans to keep it empty this Saturday night.
“When everyone comes out to see me, I have to win,” says Abdusamadov. “If I keep winning, then they will want to keep coming every time. I want to stay undefeated. It is important, because people want to keep coming to see a winner. Come to watch my fight and I promise you will like this one. It will be the best fight on the card.”
Tickets for event, promoted by Upper Cut Promotions, are available online at uppercutpro.com
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
