Birmingham’s Tommy Langford will face the best version of Sam Sheedy there is, when the pair meet for the British middleweight title on November 26. Sheedy and Langford clash for the vacant title at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, with Sheffield southpaw Sheedy insisting he will be in the shape of his life.
Langford, 17-0 (6), was due to face former champion Chris Eubank Jr on October 22 before the Brighton fighter relinquished the belt, enabling Sheedy to step in with just three weeks notice. However, injuries to bill-toppers Billy Joe Saunders and Liam Williams saw the show postponed to its new date, meaning Sam will have had a full training camp on fight night.
Sheedy, 17-1 (4), was hampered in his last outing – a points win over Andrew Robinson – with a back injury, but insists trainer Glyn Rhodes is pushing him to the max and that he will match Langford for workrate, and better him for skill.
“Training is going absolutely perfect. I know boxers say that all the time, but it’s going great. I’ve got a schedule and it’s absolutely ‘down to a T’. We’re seeing differences every week, and we’re moving uphill. I’ve been with Glyn for 18 years now and I’m finally listening to him one hundred per cent!
“Andrew Robinson has said he thinks I’m going to win, which is lovely to hear. But in that fight with him I had bad back spasms and had to box differently. He didn’t see my ability whatsoever, he just saw whatever I could throw at him, becasue that’s all I could do.
“I’m a better boxer than Langford. He’s got a fantastic engine that everyone keeps banging on about but he’s not going to have that advantage this time, we’ll have the same engine. The difference is that I’ve got a bigger heart than him; I want it more. He’s been manafactured by [Frank] Warren, they’re putting their hopes in him. Fair enough, he’s a good boxer but that’s it, he’s not beaten a good scalp in my opinion.
“As the time gets closer I’m growing in confidence. The training we’re doing is taking me to places I’ve never been before. The first three or four rounds against anybody, I’m a nightmare – I’m tricky, awkward and I’m horrible. But my punching power at middleweight, I’ve really grown into it. I’m so confident in my punching power and trickiness, and you’re going to see that in every round, from the first four and then all the way through to the end.”
