Andrew Keates, 26, is preparing for the fight of his life for the IBO Continental Welterweight title this weekend and with that comes endless opportunities.
The local boy from Leek has grown up in his granddad’s footsteps and now has the opportunity to showcase his talents on a national stage and beyond.
After winning his last fight against Ryan Fields and gaining the Midlands Welterweight Title, he now has the opportunity to prove himself on an even bigger stage and this is what he had to say on the upcoming fight: “It means a lot to me, as to get this belt opens up a lot of doors for me. It’s a massive fight for me and hopefully, I can go on to bigger better things after it and maybe defend the title on an even bigger stage.”
It wasn’t easy to get to this point, as last year was a long road for Keates as he had two defeats in 2017. However, he won the all-important last fight at the back end of the year, to set up this mouthwatering tie this weekend: “The last fight was brilliant for me, its opened up a lot of doors and put me back on the map for big titles and I’m super excited about the opportunities.”
With his last fight coming more than five months ago, he could be forgiven for feeling out of shape. However, he is feeling as good in preparations for the fight: “I feel great, training has gone well and everything has fallen into place really. I know it’s been a long time since I was back in the ring, but I’m feeling good I’ve kept up with training and been eating the right things.”
Keates credits his grandfather for leading him on this pathway and since then he hasn’t looked back, with eyes firmly fixed on the future: “I just the love the sport and I’m just following in the footsteps of what my grandfather did when he was younger. He was the one who told me to turn up at the gym one day and since that day I’ve never looked back.”
“I want to be boxing for a British title or if I win my current fight maybe a world title and that’s what I want out of boxing.”
The fight for the IBO Continental Welterweight Title, between Andy Keates and Craig Morris, is set to take place on Saturday 24th of March at the Genting Arena, Birmingham.
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