Abass Baraou finally has the chance to fight for the EBU super welterweight title that he has long been mandatory for.
The German fights Birmingham’s Sam Eggington live on Channel 5 and DAZN.
Baraou’s challenge for European honours has been a long time coming – a fight for the vacant title was originally scheduled to take place in France against Milan Prat in November 2022.
“I’ve been the long-time mandatory for the EBU,” Baraou told boxingscene.com. “We had a lot of opponent changes and injuries in between. At the end of last year we reached out to Eggington and he accepted the fight right away. Now we are here.
“Before Sam we had JJ Metcalf in line. Before that, Milan Prat had the title – we were just waiting around with all the drama. Sam is tough; he’s a warrior. He will bring it to the ring; he doesn’t care and I’m expecting him to be in good form. I like that he’s in good form; it should make the fight very exciting. I don’t care where in the world the fight is, as long as there is a ring I will be at home.”
Baraou (14-1, 9 KOs) has been relatively inactive, recording just three fights in two years. His last 12-round contest came during his only defeat – by his countryman Jack Culcay in August 2020.
“The goal is to become world champion,” he said. “I’ll fight wherever the promoter wants me to fight. I’m ready for whatever, I just had a great camp; I’ve prepared good. I can’t wait. Maybe it won’t go 12 rounds.”
Baraou’s promoter Kalle Sauerland described Friday night’s fight as “big bight for German boxing”, and his charge as the “flagbearer for German boxing”. His fellow German Slawa Spomer defeated his then-mandatory Prat last October via a surprise 10th-round knockout. They could yet bring an all-German showdown of note back to their country.
“We could fight him – why not?” Baraou said. “If he’s up for it, I’m ready to fight anyone. I don’t care that much; we just need to make those big fights happen. Of course I want to fight back in Germany; for the German fans it would be huge for me to defend my title there. If we can get those big events in Germany, I would be down for it.
“I was European champion as an amateur; to be European champion as a pro is a huge milestone. So, I’m very excited to be the champion of Europe.”