The 37-year-old Flores will return to the ring for the first time since losing a highly controversial decision to Beibut Shumenov last July. Since losing that fight, Flores has decided to move up to the heavyweight division and is excited to have an opponent and future opponents who will stand and fight with him - which is a stark contrast to the strategy that Shumenov employed in their fight.
"I am excited about getting in there and improving. There won't be as much running and movement, mainly as much movement. I'm excited to have some guys in front of me and that will bring out the best of me. People will see the best of me when there is a guy in front of me willing to mix it up," said Flores.
The Arizona resident said that the move up in weight was long overdue and that he feels a lot stronger now that he doesn't have to cut weight to get to the 200 pound cruiserweight limit.
"I probably should have been a heavyweight a few years ago but I was holding on to that title shot and I got it. It's water under the bridge now and I am looking forward to the next step which is fighting in the heavyweight division and testing myself out there. I feel a lot stronger. I will come in the ring probably at 222, 223. I have been busting up my sparring partners and I can only attribute that to the weight. I've been sparring a lot of these guys my entire career," Flores revealed.
Shumenov is coincidentally on the same card as Flores and as of this writing, didn't have an opponent lined up. Flores said that he would have no problem righting the wrong from their July 25th fight if Shumenov is filling to fight him again.
"I have been chasing that rematch for 9, 10 months. I heard he doesn't have an opponent yet. If he doesn't have an opponent sign me up. I want to get back what's mine," Flores told BoxingScene.com in reference to Shumenov's interim WBA cruiserweight title.
Article courtesy of Boxing Scene
