He’s the coming man and he’s determined not to disappoint.
By his own admission, he sometimes gets too anxious, but Joshua Studdard is well aware of the need to put on a show.
And he intends to do just that at Emperors Palace on Saturday. He fights tall, gangly Ayanda Nkosi in his first outing at junior-featherweight. Raw-boned and muscular, Studdard believes the new division will suit him perfectly.
“I spar featherweights and I go well. And I carry my power at this weight too,” says the prospect who has six KO’s in seven outings and is hungry for more.
Studdard’s always carried his power in his big legs, but he says the shift in weight has helped redistribute his power because he is now strong and muscular upstairs too.
Trained by Warren Hulley, Studdard predicts a much different approach against Nkosi. For a start, he plans to be more aggressive, blending it with control – “but I don’t want to give too much away”.
For Studdard it’s not enough merely to win. He feels duty-bound to perform, to put on a show for the paying fans. People aren’t queuing up to watch junior-featherweights, so to get them to do so requires something special.
He has already garnered a solid support base and one that will only grow if he continues to deliver the goods in the manner he has.
“The crowd will enjoy it, that’s all I say.”
Bring it on!
