26-year-old heavyweight prospect Emanuel Odiase has boxed exclusively in his native Germany or across British shores, where he is based, but that will change Wednesday night. <\/p>\n
After a sixth-round stoppage win over Bosnia’s Srdan Govedarica in his Heidelberg hometown on July 19, the 6ft 8in kept ticking over on holiday in Barcelona, Spain. <\/p>\n
The following month his next fight date was booked: October 1, as part of a Chaos In The Ring showed in Lagos, Nigeria that will be streamed live on DAZN<\/a>. They kept in touch and the rest, as they say, is history. Joshua’s 258MGT team are managing the Wolverhampton-based prospect, who has sparred several world champions and domestic contenders in recent years. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For himself though, Odiase (8-0, 7 KOs) has lofty ambitions. He’ll face 40-year-old career cruiserweight Idris Afinni (18-9-2, 15 KOs) in what’s expected to be another demolition job, but is already looking towards the medium and long-term future. <\/p>\n “I’ve been ready and stay ready so after this, it’s back to the gym – another stepping stone – we’ll take care of business, but I can’t wait to get out there now,” he told talkSPORT after Tuesday’s weigh-ins. <\/p>\n When asked where he fits among prospects, from smaller belts to gradually world-level: “I’ve been saying that in 2027, I’ll be a world champion. Two years go by quick, we’ve been working with different world champions, I just take it step-by-step. I’ll be going for European titles next year and in 2027, have a world championship belt around my waist.”<\/p>\n Having sparred undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> and long-reigning former WBC beltholder Deontay Wilder<\/a> in previous years, he added an anecdote about sparring the latter during his prime years that has merely built up his confidence.<\/p>\n “I sparred Wilder as a 10-fight amateur and it went well, just experience at the end of the day. I saw him warming up as an undefeated knockout artist [at the time], I was nervous being out there [in America] seeing as he’d knocked everyone out. <\/p>\n “I flew over there, his coach Jay Deas warned me that ‘look, he’s been knocking out sparring partners too…’ you’re thinking it’s about to go down, but at the end of the day, I’m made for this.” <\/p>\n
The youngest of four sons with dual German-Nigerian heritage, he caught the eye sparring with two-time unified world champion Anthony Joshua<\/a> over a fortnight in March 2021. <\/p>\n