Luke Blackledge talks potential fights with Zac Dunn and Jake Carr
WHEN it comes to willing challengers, Commonwealth super middleweight champion Luke Blackledge isn’t short of options.
In recent weeks, it has become known that the management of reigning IBO super middleweight champion Zac Dunn tabled an offer to the Briton, as well as an expression of interest from undefeated prospect Jake Carr.
Speaking from his Accrington base, Blackledge (19-2-2, 6 KOs) spoke exclusively with Aus-Boxing about the sudden influx of interest from our Australian contingent.
“I actually got offered a fight against Zac Dunn for the IBO world title,” revealed Blackledge. “It was a fight that I was definitely interested in taking, I have no problems with travelling to fight,”
“But after speaking to my team, it didn’t make sense to take it. I’m the Commonwealth champion and the purse on offer was very low, maybe three or four times less than that you would expect for a world title,”
“And what it came down to was that I could make the same kind of money here in England defending my Commonwealth title and in fights that were much easier for me to win,”
“The risk needs to equal the reward. For what was a very hard fight and one that I was still willing to take – especially for a world title – the money needed to be a lot better,”
Despite having entered negotiations with Dunn’s team, it appears unlikely for the time begin that Blackledge will be challenging the recently crowned Dunn.
Got offered to box in Australia against Zach Dunn for Ibo world title but prefer to stay at home and defend my Commonwealth 👊👍
— Luke Blackledge (@LukeBlackledge) July 7, 2015
In more recent times, Jake Carr (10-0, 3 KOs) announced that he would be relinquishing his Australian super middleweight title in favour of pursuing a fight with Blackledge, which the Brit is more than happy to take.
“I haven’t watched a lot of him,” admitted Blackledge on Jake Carr. “But from what I’ve seen, it’s not a fight that I would hesitate in taking, I actually really like that fight for me,”
“When I watched him fight, there wasn’t a lot that worried me. I still think he’s a good fighter, but if that is a fight that they wanted to do, I’d love to fight him over here,”
In a cluttered domestic super middleweight division, most pundits see Jake Carr and Zac Dunn atop of the profile in terms of career prospects and overall ability.
But when Blackledge was pressed for his opinion on the two fighters, it was clear which of the pair that he thought was superior.
“I guess I’m of a different opinion,” said Blackledge when comparing the two Australians. “I think Zac Dunn is clearly better. I think he is stronger, far more experienced and even by watching him fight, the bigger puncher,”
“He would be the kind of fight that I would still be confident of taking, but I have no doubt in my mind that Dunn is the far better of the two, after all he is a world champion,”
“Even though there are a lot of fighters around that have padded records, they still need to be respected,”
@adamreid449 Yh mate I would've done it if they wasn't offering pic.twitter.com/ehGOz5n567
— Luke Blackledge (@LukeBlackledge) July 7, 2015
In the past eighteen months, Australians have typically struggled abroad when taking big fights in Europe as well as the mecca of boxing, America.
In spite of Australia’s losing record abroad, Blackledge insists that all travelling fighters pose a threat and should be respected.
“We have plenty of fighters who come to England – say Africans for example – and even though their records are really padded, they are still dangerous and need to be respected,”
“And that is what it comes down to, all fighters can be dangerous,”
Although Blackledge is yet to receive another serious offer to face either of the Australian duo, the reigning Commonwealth and WBC International champion found the timing of previous discussions very ironic.
“It was just a really interesting situation,” said Blackledge in closing. “I’ve been around the game for a while and to be offered two fights against Australians in such a short time was strange,”
“I think maybe they wanted me to fight Zac Dunn for his world title. If that happened, I would’ve needed to vacate my Commonwealth title, which would’ve opened the door for Carr to fight someone lesser for it,”
“I’ve travelled around the world and fought in many different countries, I’ve fought in countries like Germany and Denmark so I think I’ve shown that I’m not scared to travel.”
“If they’re serious about fighting me, they need to contact my manager Steve Wood and we’ll make a deal,”
Photo: Lancashire Telegraph
