Blake Caparello on Affif Belghecham, moving to super middleweight

 
BLAKE Caparello will make his long awaited debut as a super middleweight on Friday night.

 
The Greenvale-based southpaw, who unsuccessfully challenged unified WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, will face Frenchman Affif Belghecham (21-7-1, 5 KOs) for two regional titles in Melbourne.

 
Belghecham, 40, is best known for losing competitive decisions to former world champions Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam and Darren Barker. Belghecham also dropped a decision to WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee.

 
In an exclusive interview with Aus-Boxing, Caparello (20-1-1, 6 KOs) talks about his super middleweight division as well as his preparation for his fight for the year.

 
“I’ve watched my diet a lot more for this fight,” said Caparello. “Instead of eating things like a Kit Kat Chunky, I’ll learn towards a healthy snack instead,”

 
Caparello, 28, who already holds a WBO #10 world rating at super middleweight, is hoping that victory on Friday night will move him closer to a second world title challenge.

 
Given that he is currently signed to DiBella Entertainment – a company that promotes the innovative Premier Boxing Champions events in the US – Caparello believes at some point, he will venture across to the US again.

 
“I’m hoping around this time next year I’ll be fighting for another world title, if all goes well and no injuries,” Caparello continued. “Obviously we want to get back in the US and be on television,”

 
“My team are always keeping in touch with the team at DiBella Entertainment. I can see myself fighting on PBC if the right fight gets presented. My name is always in the mix up there,”

 
Despite his success at light heavyweight, where Caparello ruled unchallenged as the best fighter in this region for several years, Caparello reveals that a move down to super middleweight was always on the cards.

 
Having spent several weeks in Canada where he was employed as a sparring partner for Artur Beterbiev, Caparello explains what he saw in terms of a weight cut for substantially bigger fighters.

 
“We decided to make the move down because we noticed all the light heavyweights are coming down from much bigger weights,” added Caparello. “So it made sense given that I’d make super middleweight easily,”

 
“Most of them are coming down from 88-90 kilos and I’m only coming down from 82-83 kilos,”

 
“Once I saw how much weight Artur Beterbiev drops when I was over in Canada, it made my decision a lot clearer. It’s obviously all in the correct rehydration,”

 
While Caparello admits that he hasn’t seen a lot of his opponent Affif Belghecham, he acknowledges that he has seen more than enough to understand what he’s in for on Friday night.

 
“I know that he is a tough fighter and likes to trade in close,” said Caparello in closing. “But I’m so confident in my boxing ability from the distance, I won’t allow him to fight his game,”

 
“And if he does get in close, it’s because I want it there,”

 
 
Photo: Marty Camilleri/Marty’s Knockout Photography