Frank Buglioni describes sparring with Carl Froch and George Groves, and picks a winner
Buglioni speaks exclusively to Jacob Roberts about his future
You’re scheduled to fight on April 12, do you know who you will be boxing?
I don’t at the moment, It’s going to be announced at the press conference in Islington tomorrow, just waiting to hear confirmation really.
How’s your camp been going?
Yeah it’s gone well, it’s my first week back in the gym. The week before I was just ticking over, fitness and strengthwise. Back in the gym this week doing a lot of heavy punching, a lot of pad and bag work with Mark Tibbs. Yeah I’m feeling the aches and pains.
Do you make the weight easily?
I wouldn’t say easily, but I’d say that when I do make it I’m strong, and I feel full of energy and not weight drained.
So you could you see yourself moving up in the future?
Yeah without a doubt.
You’ve got good boxing skills, how would you describe your style?
I’d say I’m definitely a come forward, pressure fighter. I’m learning to refine that a lot more now, being a little more calculated. But yeah I’m a come forward, aggressive fighter.
What kind of things are you working on with Mark Tibbs?
Lots of head movement, lots of slipping shots. I’ve always been ok at slipping shots, but doing it whilst coming forward, and being able to think about attack and defense at the same time. So that’s what I’ve been working on, being able to slip shots and come back with quick sharp counters, which I feel is slowly coming together.
This will be your fourth fight at the Copperbox, what’s the atmosphere like in there?
Oh it’s phenomenal. When all my crowd get going, they start the singing and dancing and cheering. I think it’s growing, where people are attracted to my support because they have a good time, they don’t cause any trouble, and yeah they’re a good bunch.
It’s been a quick rise from fighting at the York Hall. What’s the journey been like?
Yeah that’s right (laughs). It’s been two and a half years, and yeah it’s very quick. But I’ve put a lot of work in over those two years, and I’ve learned a hell of a lot along the way, and I know there’s a lot more to come.
Are you happy with the pace that you’ve been moving up in class?
Yeah definitely. I think that’s where Frank Warren comes into his own, he’s been patient with me, given me the right opponents. I think that’s what has shaped my progress along with Mark Tibbs’ experience of training.
Obviously the Froch and Groves rematch has been announced. Who do you pick in that fight?
I picked Groves in the first one and I’m picking him for the second one as well.
Do you see it playing out the way it did in the first fight?
I think George Groves knows he’s got the beating of Carl Froch now. I think Carl Froch has been in a lot of hard fights, and I think it’s caught up to him. I think George Groves, if he gets his tactics right, he’ll box, he’ll move and he’ll win comfortably on points.
Do you think he (Groves) could pace himself better?
Yeah possibly, I don’t think he needed to trade as much as he did with Carl Froch. He boxed lovely behind that sharp, solid jab. And then when Froch did come in he picked him off with some nice counters. I think he should have stuck to his boxing like he did in the first couple of rounds.
Have you sparred with either of them? How did it go?
Yeah I’ve sparred both of them. It’s no secret that they’re a lot more experienced than me. I sparred Carl Froch in the amateurs when I was on Team GB, he was two time world champion, and I was still young, so I boxed and moved and I tried a few things, but I certainly felt his power and ferocity. That was a good learning spar for me.
And George Groves, yeah we’ve done quite a lot of sparring since I’ve turned pro. I’ve had some good spars with George and learned a lot off him as well.
You’re ranked quite well with the WBO. Is that the route you‘d like to take going forward?
Yeah certainly why not? As long as I keep winning and keep improving. My aim in the sport is to become a world champion. Whatever route Frank Warren and Mark Tibbs see best for me to get to a world champion, then I’ll take it. I would like to go through the domestic route and win a couple of the big domestic clashes. There’s a lot of good super-middleweights coming through and I think that within a year or 18 months we should know who’s the best domestic fighter.
Obviously Arthur Abraham’s the champion, he beat Stieglitz in a rubber match a couple of weeks ago. What do you think of him?
I think Abraham is very very strong and very powerful. I don’t see much speed or footwork there, he seems to work in spells. I think Carl Froch showed the blueprint on how to beat him, and beat him well. He can definitely be beaten, I think at middleweight he was like a Golovkin, he was untouchable. But since moving up to super-middleweight, he’s showed some flaws that people can exploit.
Is that a fight you would fancy down the line?
If in two year’s time he’s still got the belt I’d love to. I think I’d be coming into my own where he would be on a downward slope. It’s all about timing in boxing, but they’re too far away to look at the moment, I’m just concentrating on the level that I’m at, but yeah in two years I’d be looking at those guys.