Blackpool’s cruiserweight Matty Askin is hoping to start off 2010 where he left off in 2009. After a quiet first half of the year Askin then had two stoppage wins over Mark Nilsen and more impressively in November when he blasted out Bobby Scott in the first round on the Anthony Small and Thomas McDonagh undercard.
Askin is in for a tough first fight in 2010 when he faces Birmingham based Zimbabwean Hastings Rasani (23-43-4, 16 early) in his first six three minute round contest. Rasani has faced quality operators like current world heavyweight champion David Haye and Carl Thompson who is the only man to beat Haye.
Whilst Rasani’s best years may be behind him, he is on a current three fight winning streak and will be brimming in confidence and Askin knows that he will be in for a tough contest come Friday night.
“It should be a good step up for me and it will be my first six three minute rounds fight. Rasani has a fairly good dig on him and has been in the ring with some class operators like Haye and Thompson. I think he will make me work for the win if it goes the full six rounds and it will be a tough one.”
Askin continued, “Rasani will be double confident and I hope he will come in to win it, in fact I know he will come to win to win it and will throw a few decent shots but once I get settled in and start landed my jabs and my right hand I should take it comfortably on points or maybe even get a stoppage.”
Askin training team of Brian Hughes and Pat Barrett have only recently found out about the young fighters opponent and will be taking a close look at Rasani to come up with a game plan for the Blackpool fighter.
“Pat and Brian have only just found out who I am fighting so Pat is going to take a look at Rasani tonight. I had a quick look yesterday and watched him against Wayne Brooks and he was pretty impressive and looks quite strong,” claimed Askin. “Rasani does look quite suspect once he is on his back foot so hopefully if I can land my shots and get him going backwards he’ll feel uncomfortable.”
Having won the 2008 senior ABA cruiserweight title Askin turned to the professional game and whilst he is reasonably happy with his unbeaten start he feels that the year could have gone better.
“This last year went well,” enthused Askin. “I would have hoped for more fights but now it seems to be rolling nicely now and I have had three fights in the last six months if you include this upcoming fight.”
Askin who fights as a cruiserweight is looking to work his way up the rankings and is hoping to build up the longer round fights with the intent of aiming for a title.
“I will have a couple of six rounder’s then move up to eight rounds later this year and start getting the rounds in,” explained Askin. “Hopefully everything will come together from that, maybe I’ll get a few tough opponents and work my way up the rankings.”
Askin is trained at the Collyhurst gym run by Brian Hughes MBE and does a lot of work with Hughes’ right hand man Pat Barrett, a former British and European champion.
Barrett realises that Rasani will be no walk in the park but has every confidence that Askin will prevail.
“Mark Nielson was a tough opponent who had taken Darren Stubbs the distance for a Masters title,” explained Barrett. “Yet Matty stopped him and I have every faith in Matty as a prospect.
Barrett then explained the changes he has seen in his young fighter over recent months.
“Matty was one of the hardest kids to train as a young fighter, he wasn’t always in the gym and one time I had to pull him from a fight,” explained Barrett about getting tough with young fighters. “Now he takes the game so seriously and listens so much he is improving. He sits, he listens and asks his questions and wants to learn.”
Barrett went on to explain that Askin would not be rushed but was more than capable of winning titles.
“I was more impressed with his last fight than the Mark Nilsen one,” enthused Barrett. “I am more impressed with him more with every outing. He will definitely win a British title. We need to do it the right way, take it slowly, pick the right fights get him the experience and build his confidence up and he’ll dispose of anybody.”
hi, rasani is a tough opponent so well done. i will look forward to seeing u box at some point. i am good mates with dickinson brothers and i am sure that you and jon-lewis will meet at some point in the pro’s. he also has won 5/5 so far and was 2007 aba cruiserweight champ. he also got to the final as a heavyweight the previous year and that was the only other year he fought in the aba’s. he also won 4 nation’s gold and has beat james d’gale and tom dallas as amateur so i think it would be inevitalbe that you will meet at some point. good luck for the future.