Rances Barthelemy hopes to throw his first shots of 2021 on January 30.
This clash would be an intermediate step before fighting for a World Boxing Association belt at 140 pounds against Alberto Puello.
The clash with Puello fell out on a couple of occasions, first due to the impact of the coronavirus and then due to visa problems for the Dominican champion, who in December won a voluntary fight and is now waiting for the Cuban boxer to get a win on the undercard to Caleb Plant’s defense of the IBF super middleweight title against Caleb Truax.
A two-time champion, Barthelemy craves a world title in a third division to make history and to overcome a final obstacle before making his next move: a change to the welterweight division; helped by the strength & conditioning trainer Memo Heredia and trainer Pedro Roque.
“As you all know, I have not fought since April 2019. My last fight was with Robert Easter. Much of the blame [for my inactivity has been due to] the pandemic, but afterwards I could not fight due to problems with the visa of my opponent, the Dominican Alberto Puello. I’ve had a lot of patience, but I know that everything will move in the right direction again,” Barthelemy told George Ebro.
“Both teams [for me and Puello] decided that we should take intermediate fights and then face each other in mid-2021. He already won his in the Dominican Republic and now he will be waiting for me. I must get into the ring on January 30 to have everything ready for the future [of our fight], maybe in April or May.
“It has been a long time without stepping in the ring and that is hard, but thanks to Pedro Roque’s knowledge I have been able to cope with everything. He has been very smart about training. He has given me many rounds of sparring and that has kept me like a well oiled machine.”