Former UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos has signed a promotional deal with S-Jam Boxing and the Brazilian insists he is “not an MMA guy just trying to do big fights and make some money.” The 37-year-old – who has fought big MMA fights with the likes of Cain Velasquez and Stipe Miocic – insists he will be trying his best to be the best in the world at boxing.
Dos Santos spoke with Sky Sports and he said he is aiming to get a big fight with a Tyson Fury, an Anthony Joshua, a Deontay Wilder.
“Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury. I really believe at some point, it’s gonna happen. I’m gonna have a big fight against one of these guys and I’ll beat them up,” Dos Santos said. “I’m going into the boxing word, not just to try and be an MMA guy trying to do big fights and make some money. Everything I do in my life I try my best. I’m here to try my best and give 100 percent of me to get big achievements. Of course, my biggest goal is the be the champion of the world.”
Dos Santos, who has tried his hand at boxing in the gym only, explained how his trainer, Luiz Dorea (who has worked with big names in boxing such as Miguel Cotto and Guillermo Rigondeaux), “always told me that I have a lot of talent for boxing.” Dos Santos added how he is “a natural heavyweight,” and how he considers himself to be “a boxing guy.” Fans, though, will take some convincing before being willing to accept Dos Santos as a legit heavyweight boxing contender.
How much has Dos Santos got left at age 37? is this itself a far too advanced age for an MMA fighter to be switching to boxing? It will be interesting to see who Dos Santos is matched with in his first boxing match, as it will be interesting seeing how he looks, how he performs. The big names of the heavyweight division Dos Santos mentioned are pretty busy for the foreseeable future, with Joshua heading into his must-win rematch with Oleksandr Usyk and Fury almost certain to fight Dillian Whyte next. While Wilder’s ring return is certain to be a big deal.
Have any of these three stars got any interest in facing Dos Santos? It’s far too early to tell if Dos Santos will be able to do anything significant as a boxer, let alone if he will actually get a massive fight against one of the elite. But if he can string together a few wins and if he looks good and gets plenty of fan attention, then who knows, maybe Dos Santos will get as far as he says he can? Let’s see how Dos Santos looks in that boxing debut.