WBO world middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog expects a difficult fight against Japanese challenger Nobuhiro Ishida next month, he told RIA Novosti on Monday.
Pirog, 31, is to face Ishida at Moscow's Dynamo Arena on May 1, and the Russian expects trouble from Ishida’s fast-paced style.
“He’s a really tricky boxer, tall, really unorthodox, throws a lot of punches, but not all using his maximum strength,” Pirog said.
The Russian would try to use the Ishida bout as a learning experience, he said.
“It’s good that I’ll have an opponent like that. It’ll give me important and necessary experience, that I didn't have had before.”
Pirog’s representatives are in talks to arrange a unification bout with Australia’s IBF champion Daniel Geale, likely to take place in the United States in late August. The negotiations are going well, Pirog said.
“Yes, those negotiations are already under way and it’s more likely that the fight will happen than not.”
Pirog is unbeaten, with 15 KOs in his 19 professional fights.
He took the WBO belt in 2010 by conquering the American Daniel Jacobs by way of fifth-round knockout.
Pirog's last bout was a tenth-round TKO of compatriot Gennady Martirosyan.
Ishida, 36, has won 24 of his 33 fights, scoring nine KOs and losing seven along the way.
