Jonathan Palata believes the crowd he mixes in will put him in good stead for this Friday's tournament
Heavyweight Jonathan Palata (7-0, 3KOs) reckons it won’t be long until he is challenging for domestic titles ahead of his debut appearance on this Friday’s BT Sport’s Ultimate Boxxer.
The 31-year old is a former ABA Champion and regular sparring partner for the likes of David Haye and Dillian Whyte.
The London-based prospect, who faces newcomer Danny Whitaker in the first round, has a perfect professional record with seven wins from as many fights.
After demolishing Aleksey Spasov via knockout on his debut, ‘God Speed’ has gone on to chalk up another six wins and two further stoppages.
And he knows that he has to make the most of his opportunity of fighting live on BT Sport with the chance of huge exposure.
He said: “No one in this competition has sacrificed as much as I have, no one is as hungry as me or wants this as much as I do.
“I have already beaten some of the guys in this, I know what I am about, I know the level I can get too.
“I am coming in focussed, ready and here to follow the plan. I am training out of the famous Peacock, every day you’re in with some of the best boxers in the country.”
With the heavyweight titles now back on British shores after Anthony Joshua’s tactical win over Andy Ruiz, Palata says it is a level he expects himself to be challenging for himself in the future.
'GSP' continued: “Of course some of the names I have fought before I was expected to beat so I don’t want to get ahead of myself and start naming people.
“But make no mistake, my ability is second too none, after this I want to be challenging for titles. I don’t fear anyone.
“I know that I have the ability, I have gone from training David Haye to sparring him so god willing it won’t be too long until I have them belts.
“A good performance in Ultimate Boxxer opens up a lot of doors for me and I’m looking forward to putting on a show.”
The 31-year-old's rise has already caught the eye of top promoters, causing Frank Warren to sign the Sydenham puncher in June, who debuted for Queensberry Promotions very soon after on the undercard of Daniel Dubous vs Nathan Gorman at The O2 Arena in Greenwich. He repaid the faith shown in him by the Hall of Fame promoter by blasting Ferenc Zsalek away in a minute and a half!
Ultimate Boxxer will be shown live on BT Sport 1 and the BT Sport YouTube Channel at 8pm on 13th December. Tickets are nearly sold out, the last remaining are available at www.ultimateboxxer.com