Michael McKinson: There’s nobody on my level

Michael McKinson vs. Przemyslaw Runowski

Fight Camp HQ, Brentwood, Essex, England 14/8/21

Michael McKinson feels that nobody in the UK is anything like him ahead of his battle with Przemyslaw Runowski this weekend.

McKinson (20-0, 2 KOs) defends his WBO Global welterweight title against Runowski (19-1, 5 KOs) at Matchroom Fight Camp on Saturday, broadcast live on DAZN.

It sees the Portsmouth fighter back in action following his impressive win over Chris Kongo last time out, and he now wants to build on that momentum with another slick performance against Runowski.

McKinson said: “Before the Kongo fight, I was saying that my career would start on March 27th, and I really did believe that. It was my first fight on the big stage, and I was an underdog. A lot of people picked Chris over me. I was seeing all of the polls on Twitter and stuff like that.

“Nobody backed me to win. I beat him fair and square. Chris is a good fighter, but I proved I’m a better fighter. My career has only just started. I’m on the big stage finally – it took me 20 fights to get here. I plan on staying here.

“If you look at my record, I’ve dropped my last three opponents in the first round – they’ve all been unbeaten. I think I’ve dropped six of my last seven, or five of my last six. People do underestimate my power. I can dig, I know I can dig. I will prove that to people in the future.

“That doesn’t matter though, I’m beating these opponents with relative ease. The knockouts will come, and I reckon when they do come, I’ll get a lot more respect on my name.

“In the UK especially there’s nobody like me. I don’t think there’s anybody on my level. I’m still learning a lot and I’m still developing. Each fight I have I’m just getting better and better. Who knows where I can be in a year or two? At the moment I’m happy with my development and I’m excited for my future.

“I watched Fight Camp last year and at the time I hadn’t caught my break yet and I was frustrated. I was just thinking, ‘I wish I could get on shows like that’. I’m finally here now. It’s great to be a part of Fight Camp but I’m not here to be a part of it, I’m here to really shine and standout on Fight Camp 3 and that’s what I plan on doing.

“People look at his only defeat to Josh Kelly but since then he’s bounced back very well. He’s coming off a couple of very good knockout wins so he’s going to be confident. He’s going to be game, and he’s going to try and knock me out. They all do.

“They’re all confident and game and they all try and knock me out. It’s a fight, as long as I’m prepared to the best I can, it’s a fight I can definitely win. It’s a fight I can definitely look very good in winning too.

“People that know me know that I don’t like sitting at the same level. I’m constantly trying to challenge myself and get harder fights. This fight is a step up. If I want to be pushing on to these world level fighters, then I’ve got to be dealing with people like Runowski in style.”

(Kristian von Sponneck)

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