Editor’s note: This article was originally published on DAZN.com.
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British lightweight Luke Campbell has sacrificed Christmas with his family in order to prepare as well as he can for his fight with Ryan Garcia on Saturday (DAZN).
The 22-year-old Californian will face veteran Campbell in Dallas for the WBC “interim” lightweight title.
Campbell, 33, flew from Hull to the United States to prepare for the clash, which was originally planned for early December but was pushed back because of COVID-19.
Campbell, speaking to Hull Live, said he believes it was a sacrifice worth making for his career.
“I’m a professional boxer, and this is a huge fight so I have to prepare like I would every other fight whether it’s Christmas or not,” he said. “It’s a big sacrifice to be away from my boys and my wife and family, it’s the hardest thing about what I do, but I won’t be doing this forever.
“When the fight was rearranged for January 2nd I knew what I had to do, and it’s time to take care of business, and we’ll do all the celebrating together when I come home.”
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Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) last fought in August 2019, when he lost a world title challenge to Vasyl Lomachenko. He does not want to let the chance of another title fight to slip through his fingers.
The winner of Campbell vs. Garcia should be in line to fight secondary WBC titleholder Devin Haney next year. Teofimo Lopez is the WBC champion.
“It’s been a frustrating year with everything, but I’ve had two fights planned that have been pulled which was frustrating,” Campbell said. “What that means is I have been through two training camps this year already and now this one, so I’m in great shape. And the fact I’ve not fought since 2019 is not a problem.
“I’ll be ready for him and I’m ready to start the new year in style.”