Nikki Bascome On Training & Upcoming Fight
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Nikki Bascome insists he is hungrier than ever to keep the wins coming as he prepares for his headline bout against Canadian Cody Kelly at The Shed in Dockyard on Saturday.
Bascome, who will look to improve his professional record of ten victories from 11 outings, has endured a frustrating year, including two fights being shelved at the eleventh hour after his opponents failed to show on the island.
His first setback came when Jamaican Kevin Hylton failed to arrive in Bermuda after missing his connecting flight out of Canada in May, forcing the fight card to be postponed.
Bascome suffered further vexation when Hylton’s replacement, American Daniel Arriaga, did not turn up for their contest on the island a month later.
The Bermudian, who has not fought since beating Canadian Dylan Rushton in Dockyard in January, said he required a mental break to recharge his batteries after the successive “no-shows”.
“It took me a little while to get up for this fight,” Bascome told Bernews. “I needed to take a mental break after those two cancellations to see if I still wanted to do this or not.
“That’s all behind me now. I’m ready to go, and my only focus is Saturday night. We’ll see how it goes, and I’ll then decide what’s next.
“The hunger is still there; I’m still training hard as ever and taking every opponent as serious as ever.”
The welterweight has enjoyed success against southpaws, defeating Guyanese Iwan Azore and Filipino Alvin Lagumbay, and has sparred exclusively with Bermudian “lefty” Andre Lambe to prepare for Kelly [4-3-3], who has fought Bascome’s previous opponent Rushton twice, earning a win and a draw.
“I’ve had a lot of sparring against Andre [Lambe], another southpaw, and I’ve been making the adjustments in training,” said Bascome, who will have coach Anthony Stoneham in his corner. “I’m pretty comfortable with southpaws.”
At 31, Bascome knows he is entering the final chapters of his career and intends to saviour every moment of fighting in front of his home supporters.
“Boxing is growing in Bermuda, and I’m glad to be part of it,” he added. “It’s always special fighting in front of your home crowd.”
