Chinese world champion Xu ‘Monster’ Can keen to end ‘boredom’ as unification bout with unbeaten Josh Warrington looms
- The mainland’s third world champion says he has seen fellow fighters quit because of lack of opportunities over past year because of Covid-19 pandemic
- The 26-year-old from Fuzhou is new poster boy for Chinese boxing after Zou Shiming, having held WBC featherweight title since January, 2019
China’s only current world champion, Xu Can, has watched fellow fighters quit the ring over the past year because of the lack of opportunities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic – but the 26-year-old is determined to battle on and fulfil his dreams.
WBA featherweight champion Xu (16-2 -0, 3 KOs) – known as “Monster” – was supposed to take on IBF title-holder Josh Warrington (30-0-0 7 KOs) in a blockbuster unification fight early in 2020 but the bout was put on hold because of the coronavirus.
Media reports say the fight may be held in early February in the Briton’s home city of Leeds and Xu – who has seen a number of bouts cancelled – is raring to go.
“I’ve been confused. I don’t know how long to wait, because I’ve been waiting from the beginning of the year until now,” Xu told Chinanews.com. “Agents, promoters, including coaches, sometimes tell me there might be a fight, and start preparing. After preparing, they suddenly said it cannot be done and I have to take a break.
“Many professional fighters I know have retired and become coaches because there is really no competition. Some even changed careers and went to work [in other jobs]. Of course, some people are working while boxing.
“It’s a unification war [against Warrington], I have to fight. After all, I have waited for a year My next goal is a unification war.”