BRADFORD heavyweight Dan Garber is looking to bounce back from his first ever professional loss, as he takes on unbeaten Indian talent Nishant Sharma tomorrow night.
But despite getting the chance to box in front of a home crowd at The Bradford Hotel for the fourth time, Garber (5-1) admitted he would prefer more away fights going forward and that money is his motivating factor.
Ahead of taking on Sharma (4-0), the Baildon southpaw said: “By the time you’ve paid to put your visiting opponent up, given the promoter a big cut of your ticket sales, then paid the British Boxing Board of Control to actually have the fight, you’re not left with a lot of money.
“It’s been mentioned that I could go for the Central Area title if I beat Nishant, but I’m not really bothered.
“All I want is the money, not titles, so whatever fight offers the best money is the one I’ll take.
“Fighting for the Central Area title won’t pay my bills, but a good performance and win over Nishant could give me a chance to take on (18-year-old) Moses Itauma (22-0) for example, who’s aiming to break Mike Tyson’s record of being the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
“I wouldn’t beat him, I know that, but it would be a good payday on TV, potentially on BT Sport.
“I would throw my name into the hat to face him if I win this weekend and it’s something my manager Glenn (Banks) and I have spoken about, but I’ll probably pack the sport in if I do lose.”
That is a lot of pressure then for the 38-year-old, with his career potentially on the line over four rounds tomorrow.
But he is confident, saying: “When I lost to Lamah Griggs (3-6) in March, it was only because I had a point deducted in the final round and I felt pretty hard done by.
“But I was only just over 15 stone too, whereas now I’m up to 17, which is better given I’m six foot five.
“I’ve taken time off work for the fight this weekend and hired a dietician to help me prepare properly.
“I’ve got myself a new trainer in Andy Lowry, who I train with twice a day in Halifax, and he’s helped bring my confidence up.”
Garber is not the only Bradford boxer in the ring tomorrow, with flyweight Fezan Shahid (1-1-2) on the same card.
‘Fizzy’ will be heavily favoured to beat opponent Nabil Ahmed (1-18-2) at The Bradford Hotel.
Garber’s fellow heavyweight Peter Naylor (3-0) was in action less than a fortnight ago, beating Jake Darnell (2-18) with ease.
But there was bad news for Bradford-born Jimmy First at the start of last month.
The veteran lightweight (14-2) inflicted a first professional defeat on Cori Gibbs (18-1) in Bournemouth last December, but the 29-year-old won the rematch on points in his home city of Birmingham on May 6.
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