So spar, so good

Amir lets his sparring partners feel the full force as his Thursday goes 'haywire' in and out of the ring.

Pt V - Sparring goes so well, Freddie has seen enough!

Thursday, November 26

Today was a mad day - in and out of the ring. For a start the media interest in this fight has really stepped up so there were more interviews than ever to do, but for some reason, sparring just went haywire! Normally we spar behind closed doors - and we are keeping the identity of our partners secret, but you will know one of them - but this time we had about 60 people watching. Everything felt so good, so sharp, the timing was spot-on. It's not often you see blood in these sessions, but there was a bit spilled! I really do feel good and am itching to get in that ring with Dmitriy Salita. It went so well that Freddie has decided that's pretty much it. We will do a few more rounds on Saturday and then sparring is done and the two guys can recover! Just to say thank you for the good work they have put in, I then spent ages posing for photos with them and their friends, which is something I don't mind doing in the slightest. There were a couple of familiar faces also watching, including Frankie Gavin, who is of course on the undercard next Saturday. It's always good to see Frankie, James DeGale, Billy Joe Saunders and Tony Jeffries (even with his Sunderland allegiances!) because we have been friends for a long, long time. We were all together as far back as 2004, I was just the one that got the lucky break and made it to Athens. But we still stay in touch and talk all the time, like any mates do. I am more than happy to give them advice when it comes to boxing, because they are all going through what I went through a few years back. They also turn to my manager Asif for a bit of help from time to time as well, and we are always happy to help them out, because these guys are the future of British boxing and I hope they can move on to British, Commonwealth and European titles in the next six to 12 months - and maybe world titles in the next two years. After the sparring and photos, we sat down with the lovely Katie from Sky Sports to discuss the media schedule for next week, which is going to be busy and then my best mate Saj dropped in to tell us that the fight shorts, gown and gear for Saturday are all ready. I am not going to give anything away, but it will be something different and I tell you, you won't have trouble spotting me when you tune in on Sky Box Office!