The welterweight fighter Albert Tumenov, whose debut fight in the league will be against Marcelo Alfaya at the ACB 61 tournament, shared his thoughts on his training camp and his opponent.
On the possibility of holding a camp in the USA:
"I know that I am often criticized for training in my native gym in Kabardino-Balkaria, but I couldn’t care less about haters’ opinion. I'm not saying that I’ve achieved much, but I owe everything to this very gym. I’ve reached everything due to training here with my brothers and my father. Therefore, this gym clearly deserves respect. There have always been many experienced and serious athletes here. I wanted to try to prepare in the US for my debut in ACB, but since I learned about the fight 2 months prior to it, I would not have had enough time for that. I would have to spend 20 days just on acclimatization first there, and then at home. I could not afford that, because I would not be able to get to the peak my form. That’s why I’ve decided to stay, and I am sure that I will have excellent training here. Perhaps my next preparation will be abroad."
About the opponent:
"My opponent may not be very well-known, but I consider him one of the most dangerous in the division. He is a physically strong fighter who is betting on wrestling. Everyone says that I have “no wrestling”, but I'm already tired of repeating that even in the fight with Larkin, when I won, I had serious health problems. And my last two defeats occurred precisely because of that. I’m not making excuses, I just know what I'm capable of, and in those bouts I wasn’t physically able to show that."
On training for the fight:
"Now I'm training in wrestling a lot, I'm focusing on takedown defense. I will not make the first move to engage in wrestling with my opponent. Of course, if I see a good opportunity to knock him down, I’ll use it. But everyone knows me as one of the best strikers in this division, so I'm going to showcase all the beauty of striking techniques in this fight."
