I got KO’d by David Haye and realised I’d never be champion after sparring Tyson Fury – now I will fight number one ranked heavyweight
Mark De Mori is feeling pessimistic ahead of his biggest fight yet.
The Australian heavyweight is set to take on top contender Filip Hrgovic during the Day of Reckoning card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
British fight fans will remember De Mori as the man who taught himself to box by watching YouTube videos before being knocked out by David Haye in 2016.
Since then, he’s picked up 11 consecutive wins and earned a fight with one of the best heavyweights on the planet, who happens to be the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk’s IBF title.
Despite being one win, which would admittedly be a monumental upset, away from cracking the heavyweight top 15, De Mori doesn’t believe he will ever be a world champion
The 41-year-old says he came to that conclusion after sparring WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury, who will face Usyk in an undisputed fight on February 17.
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“Honestly, I don’t think that, if I caught Hrgovic, that anyone would want to see me fight the winner of Fury-Usyk,” De Mori said during an interview with .
“That’s just being realistic and that is fine, so we would probably do a rematch.
“I sparred Fury once and it was during those rounds that I realised that I’d never become a world champion, that’s how much trouble I had landing a punch on him.
“So, if I managed to knock him [Hrgovic] out, I think that it would be a rematch.”
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De Mori’s lack of ambition appears to have freed him from the stress that Hrgovic, Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and every other contender fighting this weekend is almost certainly feeling right now.
He added: “It’s all good fun.”
“There is no expectations on me or my career anymore.
“So, I will walk in there with no weight on my shoulders.”
talkSPORT will bring you live radio commentary as Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder face a 'Day of Reckoning' in a historic boxing show in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.