HEAVYWEIGHT prospect Nathan Gorman believes the experience of his trainer Ricky Hatton and sparring partner Tyson Fury are key to the development of his career.
Gorman has 12 straight victories, 10 coming early, and will be in action on June 9, at the Manchester Arena on the undercard of former heavyweight champion Tyson Furyโs return.
The unbeaten heavyweight will take on Irishman Sean Turner (12-2), an opponent who has been calling out Gorman on more than one occasion.
โHeโs asked for me to be fair, twice, it fell through the first time but heโs asked to fight me constantly,โ Gorman said.
โI don’t do too much studying, I have a quick look at my opponents on Youtube but Iโm not one to stay up all night watching them.โ
In truth, Gorman is expected to come through Turner come June 9, and look for bigger ventures, and with a trend of heavyweights finding themselves being fast-tracked to the top, Gorman revealed he is happy to follow this, under the instructions of his team.
โOf course everybody wants to be a British champion, itโs a prestige title, that will always be a target,โ he said.ย โBut at the moment I just listen to Ricky [Hatton] and all my coaches and take each fight as it comes, take each fight as a learning fight and get past June 9 and when the time comes to fight for titles Iโll be more than ready.โ
Listening to Ricky Hatton will certainly be more than useful, a former two-weight world champion who shared the ring with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Josรฉ Luis Castillo and of course Kostya Tszyu.
โRicky has been there and done it allโ Gorman said.ย โHeโs been with the pound for pound greats- heโs got that experience of fighting against the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather, Carlos Maussa.
โWhat people donโt realise is he had 20 odd defences of his WBU title, so all that experience heโs gained over the years heโs passing over to me and heโs just so knowledgeable.โ
Another valuable part of Gormanโs preparation is Tyson Fury. The 21-year-old described the benefits of having such an experienced sparring partner.ย โTyson is a class act in the ring, heโs unified heavyweight champion for starters,โ Gorman said.ย ย โHeโs looking good now, better than ever and sparring him is only gaining experience learning off the little things he does.
โAfter sparring heโll come over and say you did this right, you did this wrong, work on this, that kind of stuff, heโs very helpful in that way and Iโm very fortunate to spar him.
โItโs not a personal thing between me and him, heโd do it for anyone heโs that type of fella, heโs very humble in that way.โ
Fury will return for the first time in nearly three years, his last outing coming in November 2015 when he beat Wladimir Klitschko is Dusseldorf, Germany, to claim the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles.
Gorman believes from his experience of sparring Fury, he has all it takes to reclaim the titles he never lost in the ring.ย โFrom what heโs doing in the gym there is no doubt in my mind he can get them belts back, heโs better than ever,” Gorman claimed.ย โItโs valuable experience me sparring him, heโs as sharp now as when he fought Klitschko in my opinion, heโs coming back with a bang.โ
Another heavyweight name linked to Gormanโs name is fellow undefeated prospect Daniel Dubois, and the two know each other well from the amateurs.
Training alongside Dubois has provided Gorman with the confidence he can beat his promotional stablemate and admitted he would accept the fight โthis weekendโ.
โThere is no doubt in my mind I can’t beat Daniel,โ he said.ย โTo be fair Iโd box him [Dubois] this weekend to tell the truth, if I was offered the fight against him Iโd take it this weekend.
โI know Daniel, we was on the Great Britain squad together for two to three years and weโve shared at least 200-330 rounds of sparring, so we know each other inside and out.
โIf that fight got offered to me Iโd accept it, but I understand from a promotional point of view that it will be an even bigger fight if we let it build.
โPerhaps letโs say Hughie [Fury] vacates the British title we could fight for that along the line, maybe this year.”