Nyambayar returns Saturday night to face Cobia Breedy on Showtime.
Mongolian featherweight contender Tugstsogt Nyambayar got a chance to claim his first world title in February, but lost a challenge against WBC titleholder Gary Russell Jr. The 28-year-old Olympic silver medalist will now press on, starting Saturday (SHO, 9 pm ET) against late notice opponent Cobia Breedy.
Nyambayar (11-1, 9 KO) will need to win, of course, if he wants to get back into the title picture at 126 pounds, and obviously he does. He says we can expect a better version of him against Breedy (15-0, 5 KO), who stepped in late to replace Eduardo Ramirez.
“It wasn’t my night against Gary Russell Jr, but now I’m a better fighter. I was waiting too much against Russell and I let him control the fight. I have to be in control of the fight from the beginning until the end,” Nyambayar said.
“I had a bit of an ankle sprain heading into the fight against Russell. I wasn’t able to use my movement as much as I wanted. It was a mild injury, but it caused me to have a lot less running in training. It just wasn’t the best ‘King Tug.’ I would happily rematch Gary Russell Jr. I would love to fight him again because I think it would end differently.”
Breedy, 28, is a different style of fighter from Ramirez, but Nyambayar says he’s not worried about that.
“I have watched a couple of fights from Cobia Breedy and he’s definitely a good fighter. He’s a tough competitor, but we’ll see what happens Saturday. I’m going to bring my best,” he said. “The change in opponent made no difference to me. We train to win no matter what. We want to get this win and move to the next step, which is winning a world title.”
He’s also looking not just to win, but do so impressively.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of style he brings to the ring. We’re ready for anything he brings on Saturday night. I’ve worked hard and I think I’m going to stop him in the middle rounds.”
