I will never let another man disrespect me. I don't care if we sparring or fighting.
We risk our health much more during fights and sparring than by getting infected with coronavirus.
I could be sparring mates and you're meant to hit 'em, but we'll be sparring and usually I try and stop at the face, or I don't really try and follow through, but sometimes they walk into them and I say 'oh sorry mate.' They get angry and say 'we're sparring get into it,' but I dunno, I think I'm so used to saying sorry.
I had to get up run in the morning for 2 hours, go to the gym and also get good opponents as sparring partners because I'm a big believer in that how you train is how you will fight at least when it came to me that's how it worked.
There are not many heavyweight fighters to come by, so having so many sparring partners is a big luxury a lot of other fighters don't have.
This is a full-contact sport. It's the objective to disable your opponent, even if sparring or a real fight. You've got to use your technique.
Even after you win the championship, the work doesn't stop; it probably only becomes more. I'm just basically focused on what I need to do. There's a lot that goes into this - diet, preparation, assembling the right people around you, sparring partners, coaches, etc. - so I'm not enjoying anything.
To be able to perform at a high level, to be able to do things that no other fighter can do, you have to practice it. And the only way you can practice is by sparring, by fighting another man.
There's a very big difference between being fit and being fight fit. Sparring is the only way to get fight fit. It's a very important part of boxing and something that I do as regularly as possible.
As an amateur, I trained in some real hard schools of knocks. In Cuba, they would have judges on three sides of the ring just for sparring sessions. They train under exactly the same conditions as they fight, and it was a great experience.
