Boxer Bascome ready for the unexpected
Nikki Bascome is ready for anything his opponent throws at him at the Teachers Rugby Fight Night 15 ‘The Rematch’ showdown at Berkeley Institute on Saturday.The junior middleweight boxer will rest his unbeaten amateur record on the line against Argentina’s Matthew Abregu in a five round bout before the main event.Not knowing what to expect from Abregu, having not seen any footage of him, Bascome believes he is well prepared for any style of fighter.Bascome boasts a 9-0 record, while his Argentinian counterpart possesses a 3-3 record.“My training has been the same as it always been, I haven’t changed anything in my routine and I’m just training hard to be ready for whatever comes my way,” said Bascome.“I don’t know anything about him in terms of style or seen any of his tapes, but this doesn’t affect me much as I’m used to going into fights not knowing much about my opponents.“I’m prepared for the fight, my last competitive fight was back in August but I have done some exhibition matches since then and I’m looking to get the most out of this fight, both in a result and the experience.”Former mixed martial arts fighter Abregu is based in Virginia and trained by Craig Fladager who also trains and manages the unbeaten Tori Nelson, who faces Bermuda’s Teressa Perozzi in a re-match for the vacant WBC middleweight championship on Saturday.In his previous appearance on local soil Bascome fought Canadian Justin Garant in an exhibition bout on the undercard of last October’s ‘All or Nothing’ WBC & WBA middleweight unification championship fight between Perozzi and Nelson at Fairmont Southampton.The orthodox fighter was supposed to defend his Dynamic Fighting Championship junior middleweight title in Orlando, Florida last October.However, Bascome’s trainer Allen (Forty) Rego withdrew his fighter from the bout after raising concerns over the weight of American opponent Tyrone Walker.Despite withdrawing fight promoters allowed the Bermudian to keep his title.“Although I am supposed to be fighting in my weight class, it is good to get out and fight some fighters who are smaller or bigger than me to help me in the long run.“It is always a pleasure to go out and fight in front of your country and represent them and I’m looking to get the win and look towards other fights on the horizon for me.”Abregu’s brother, lightweight boxer Diego Abregu, recently withdrew from this weekend’s undercard after suffering from a concussion he suffered during sparring for his fight.He was due to fight local fighter Andre Lambe in a three round bout.Lambe will instead square off against Abregu’s replacement Christopher Gooch who hails from Ashburn, Virginia.