Unbeaten WBC #13 rated middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao is sick and tired of being avoided.
A Bronze Medalist at the 2012 Olympics representing his native Brazil, Falcao was in Canada last December helping David Lemieux prepare for his fight against WBO 160 pound champion Billy Joe Saunders. Falcao was made aware that middleweight Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan would serve as the televised co-feature for Lemieux-Saunders December 16 in Canada.
Upon hearing the news, Falcao and his team immediately offered to fight the more experienced O’Sullivan. The Irishman’s team reportedly did not want to face a southpaw and elected to fight Antoine Douglas. Frustrated but not deterred, Falcao kept training and hoped to face a fighter like O’Sullivan in the near future.
On May 4, O’Sullivan was again slated as the co-feature for a televised card, this time on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
Hoping the second time would be a charm, Team Falcao made it clear they’d do whatever it took for the opportunity.
Unfortunately, O’Sullivan elected to face Berlin Abreu, a blown up welterweight that hadn’t fought in 18 months.
To make matters worse, all but once of Abreu’s victories came in the Dominican Republic against opponents with a combined 15-266 record. O’Sullivan stopped his overmatched foe in three rounds.
Multiple media outlets covering the fight reported it as a disappointing mismatch while noting O’Sullivan needs to face better opposition.
With a professional record of 28-2, O’Sullivan’s rated 5th by the WBO, 6th by the WBA and 11th by the WBC.
Falcao, 15-0 (7 KO’s), believes he’s the superior boxer but hasn’t had the same chances as O’Sullivan and he’s literally willing to fight for the opportunity.
“Spike’s had a lot of favorable opportunities but when he has the chance to take on a tough challenge, he avoids it,” Falcao said from his training camp in Florida. “I twice tried to face him with no questions asked. Both times he refused to face me. I am ranked in the top 15 and you consider yourself a top fighter – why not face me? I’m ready to show the world that I’m an elite middleweight by challenging other top rated 160 pound fighters. My question to you Spike is why did you twice avoid the challenge for easier opponents? I want you to stop running from me – man up and fight me!”
Jody Caliguire, advisor for Team Falcao, has felt the same frustrations as his fighter and none of it has to do with their unwillingness.
“We’re ready for anybody on any platform. Yama has never turned down an opportunity and we’re always putting our name out there. Aside from Spike, we offered to face Demetrius Andrade, Gennady Golovkin, Jason Quigley and Danny Jacobs among others. None of those fights happened. We don’t need to have our record built up – we’re ready to face the best right now!”