Brothers' big night of bouts

2:00pm Sat Dec 15, 2012

Kickboxer Chad Sugden says the pressure is all on Mihai Barbu before the two fighters go head-to-head in the ring for the 72.3kg ISKA Intercontinental title at The Auction House, Luton, tonight.

The 18-year-old has won all six of his professional fights so far, but is up against arguably his toughest opponent yet when he takes on the experienced 26-year-old Romanian ISKA Intercontinental Low Kick-79.1 champion over five three-minute rounds of K1 fighting.

“Mihai has fought on lots of big shows before, but I don’t know if that will be an advantage to him or not,” Chad said.

“The pressure is all on him. I’m just focusing on doing my own things and staying strong throughout the fight.

“He is good with his knees and has strong hands, but he’s a bit shorter than me and I’m more of a rounded fighter than he is.”

The Romanian has lost only four of his 46 fights but Chad has reason to be confident after winning a gruelling eight-man tournament in Warrington in November.

“The Warrington tournament really improved my fitness and I’ve learned more about fighting different styles because I had three fights during one show,” Chad said.

It’s not only a big evening for Chad — his brother, Regis, 17, will make his debut in the ring as a professional fighter when he faces Kane Chamberlain in a highly-anticipated rematch on the same bill.

Melton Mowbray-based fighter Chamberlain, 18, beat Regis under Muay Thai rules last spring, but this fight will happen under K1 rules, Regis’ preferred style.

Regis said: “I’m looking forward to my first professional fight, and to get a chance of revenge on Kane is even better.

“It was really close last time. He managed me in the clinch, but this time it’s under K1 so I’m not even thinking about losing.

“Now I’m professional I need to approach everything more precisely, both in and out of the ring, like looking after my body and training harder.

“There will be around 70 people going down to support Chad and me, and when they shout my name it just feels so intense it helps.”