Photo: Queensberry Promotions – A few weeks after presenting it to you, Punching Grace went to meet Mark Heffron (30-3-1, 24 KOs) who will face Christian Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs. -O.) on May 25.
“I hope he will be ready, because I will, and when we face each other, I want to beat the best Mbilli,” ‘Kid Dynamite’ told us in a video call interview.
Unfortunately for box office sales, here, no big “boxing lesson” promos like with Rohan Murdock. Just a man – of few words – confident in his abilities.
“I don’t like to make comparisons, because I have way more than just good punching power. But if you ask me to look at the last guy he faced, clearly, I can say that I hit harder than him,” explains the British athlete.
Stronger than ever
When we presented Heffron, last March, we mentioned his corner switch, from James Gallagher to Lee Beard, for his last fight. With full confidence, he says he is already seeing the impacts of his arrival at the gym of the man who previously worked with the likes of Ricky Hatton or Jack Catterall.
“The biggest difference is in the sparring. That’s really where I feel it the most, where I just feel stronger,” says Heffron who also cites his victory in 2 rounds against Serhii Ksendzov (4-24, 2 KOs) as proof.
“I know he’s not the greatest opponent, but if you look closely at his record, you see that he’s not a guy who falls so easily,” he adds, having a point, since Ukrainian was only stopped 3 times in 28 fights.
Keep the rhythm
Although the power will always be there is still present, Heffron believes that with his superior physical strength, he will be able to find the consistency he lacked to reach the top.
“Against Lennox Clarke, I think I really showed what I could do, but afterward against Jack Cullen, I made a lot of mistakes. Hats off to him, the best man won that night, but by being and – now – staying at my best, I believe I can box at another level,” he says, hoping to demonstrate it against the Montrealer.
“He is very good, again, I don’t want to take anything away from him, because I know that, like me, he will be there to put on a show. That being seing, I’m not just fighting for that. I will became a father for the second time in a few months, so I am not only fighting for myself and I would not cross the ocean to come home with a defeat”, concludes the father of a little girl and soon a second, more motivated than ever to offer them his biggest career victory.
A word from Tyson
Anecdote: speaking of family, we said in our previous story that the English knockout artist was the owner of an American XL Bully dog, a breed banned from the United Kingdom at the end of 2023.
Well during the interview, the dog named Tyson gave us some news via a few barks, good news as Heffron did not have to part with the family companion.
“There are a few more things to do, like making him wear a muzzle in public, but anyway, even without it, at home, he loves kids and would never hurt anyone,” he said, turning his camera to show the friendly giant.