In an exclusive BOXSPORT interview, Abass Baraou talks about his fight in Orlando, the long road to becoming WBA champion and his life in the USA – Part 1.
Hello Abass, congratulations on winning the title. With your victory against Yoenis Tellez in Orlando (USA), you won the vacant WBA belt as interim world champion. What went through your mind when you heard the verdict?
Abass Baraou: It was just a huge joy! At that moment, I briefly looked back on the hard work of the last few months. And I was relieved that everything had worked out as I had imagined.
Many experts only saw you as an outsider beforehand. What was the key to victory against a highly rated opponent like Tellez?
I would say my experience and my talent. I didn’t let all the hype affect me, I was very confident and sure of winning and also had the will to win.
You said before the fight that it would be a battle. Did that come true?
Although it was his “show”, I knew that I had to dominate the fight. Tellez put up a good fight and it turned into a wrestling match. However, I had no doubts about my victory during the fight. I stuck to my plan and tried to win the rounds clearly so that there wouldn’t be any nasty surprises at the end.
How do you remember the battle?
I became increasingly stronger and therefore more confident of victory. I held back a little in some rounds, but still dominated. I could see a defeated man in my opponent’s eyes very early on – I increasingly broke Tellez. I also had to take a few low blows, but I didn’t complain because I knew that these were signs of desperation.
The WBA has announced that it will strip Terrence Crawford of the world championship belt in the middleweight division as soon as he takes on Canelo Alvarez. How much are you looking forward to the duel between the two on September 13?
We have already been assured that I will be upgraded to regular world champion. I’ll be watching the fight between Canelo and Crawford live and hope to be crowned world champion in Las Vegas.
Crawford moves up from semi-middleweight to super-middleweight for this fight. Who is your favorite?
Crawford has outstanding talent. But there are good reasons for different weight classes, and I’m leaning more towards Canelo making the fight. But I’m also open to surprises.
Flashback to August 28, 2020: You lose a very close fight against Jack Culcay in a high-class IBF eliminator. Afterwards, however, your career lost a bit of momentum. What was the reason for that?
The coronavirus pandemic played a major role at the time. I was in England at the time and it was difficult to fight in Europe.
You turned pro with the Sauerland stable in 2018 – and fought at Wasserman Boxing until the end, where Kalle and Nisse Sauerland are back in charge.
Kalle and Nisse believed from the start that I would become world champion. However, my contract with Wasserman has already expired. Now my manager Paul Gibson and I are going to talk to the Sauerland brothers and see how we can work together in the future.
You haven’t fought in Germany for a long time, most recently in 2022. Why is that?
Boxing in Germany became quieter some time ago. But my wish was to continue to fight great fights. To do that, I first have to box abroad – the strong fighters in my weight class are abroad. But I’m longing for big boxing events in Germany again.
Interview by Frank Schwantes
You can find the second part of the interview with Abass Baraou here.