Trainer sings the praises of Ali
BOXING trainer Alex Matvienko has paid tribute to his fighter, Muhammad Ali, for the massive improvements he has made over the past few months.
Rochdale boxer Ali has gone unbeaten in his professional career so far, winning all three of his fights since making his debut in September.
His most recent victory came just over a week ago when he defeated fellow unbeaten fighter Ben Fields on points at the Bolton Whites Hotel.
Ali has gone from strength to strength so far, after he became the UK’s first boxer with type one diabetes to be granted a professional license.
Matvienko is delighted with what he has seen from his boxer, and is confident that he will continue to develop into an even better fighter next year. “I know how good Ali is.
“I’ve seen him sparring and some days he’s class. The last fight was a huge gamble but it paid off,” he said.
“Who do you know that would take a fight like that this early? It’s about having these learning fights and that was a big one.
“We’ve still got work to do as I’ve only had him eleven months and for four of those months we didn’t know if he would get his licence. These fighters have a lot of bad habits they’re not aware of when they turn over, but Ali has been very impressive.”
Ali is also happy with how things have gone, and he has praised Matvienko for all of the hard work he has put in over the past year.
“Alex is a teacher rather than a coach. They don’t get enough credit.
“We’ve got a top team around us and all of the lads are bringing each other on,” he said.
“Everyone at Elite Gym is bouncing off each other and it helps everyone massively.
“Alex has got me sitting down on my shots and breathing properly, and it’s going great.”
It was a good night for Ali’s team earlier this month, as along with his victory over Fields, his team-mates Micky Ellison and Jack Flatley also picked up wins.