Northland boxer Mohammed Azzaoui has emerged unscathed from his final sparring session with English world cruiserweight contender David Haye and is confident ahead of his bout in Russia on Sunday.
The Kaikohe-based fighter has benefited from training with Haye, who is preparing for what might be his last cruiserweight fight against
top-ranked Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck in Paris in November, Azzaoui's manager Anthony Warren says.
"He's a beautiful boxer but he's struggling to stay at cruiserweight because he's a big guy, he's still 15 pounds overweight with five weeks to go until his fight and that's a worry for him," Warren said.
"Mohammed went very well against him despite being 17 pounds lighter. He's looking sharp and we're very confident he can take care of Saenz."
Haye is likely to move into the heavyweight division after his bout against Mormeck but Azzaoui, if he defeats Nicaraguan Henry Saenz, is after bigger fish to fry.
The bout in Moscow is for the vacant World IBO Cruiserweight title, but the fight is a more of a stepping stone to get a challenge against WBA champion American Virgil Hill.
The focus of this week's final preparation will on building up speed and getting Azzaoui mentally ready for the fight.
The boxer, manager and trainer - Kaikohe's Rusty Porter - left England yesterday after Azzaoui's final sparring session with David Haye on Saturday.
"All the boxers who are fighting on the card are all coming in on the same day and we're all going to be staying in the same hotel, gyms for training have all been set up but once we leave London we won't be needing a ring to train in anyway," he said.
Azzaoui is currently just two pounds over his boxing weight and his handlers say that is just where they want him, in the lead-up to the fight.
They have not seen Saenz in action yet but are mindful that the boxer has won 12 out of his 26 professional fights by knockout.
The fight along with six other bouts on the card will be televised on Maori Television from 12pm on Sunday.
Azzaoui is matched on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-Sultan Ibragimov WBO world title fight to be held at Knodynka Ice Palace in Moscow.
