Leo Atang 'giddy' about prospect of Olaniyan superfight
As part of their broadcast for Filip Hrgovic’s emphatic win over Dave Allen in Doncaster last month, DAZN brought together two other heavyweights for an on-screen chat.
But while the two men in the main event were both approaching 35, the combined age of these two was just 39.
Leo Atang and Adam Olaniyan, 19 and 20 respectively, know that if the next few years go as planned, they could make each other millions of pounds.
Neither have put a foot wrong in the pros yet and, ahead of the seventh outing of his career, Atang admitted that the thought of a huge Britain vs. Ireland clash with Dubliner Olaniyan makes him “giddy."
“It wasn’t awkward,” he says of their joint interview on DAZN. “I knew it was a Queensberry show so they would want to put me in there as well.
“With me being a Matchroom fighter, they are just trying to build the fight between us. But it almost makes me a bit giddy because I know that if I do everything right, get the wins, then that will be a big fight down the line.
“It could be a big hyped-up one and one which I believe I can win.”
The pair were both decorated amateurs but never crossed paths in the unpaid code. It currently makes zero business sense to match them as professionals but it says much about the way heavyweight boxing works that they would be brought together on camera so early on.
Olaniyan (1-0, 1 KO) is a few steps behind Atang as it stands, having only made his debut in March. But York heavyweight Atang will bring up a year as a professional next month.
“You know what, it’s been mental,” Atang tells The Ring when asked how to describe the last 12 months.
“It’s been hectic, a lot has changed but at the same time I’ve embraced it. I just enjoy it all. I'm just a normal 19 year old who likes to punch people up.
“But other than that it's still normal, I'm still going around the city as normal, seeing all my mates as normal and doing everything I'd normally do.”
Saturday night’s clash with Fouad Shaili, which will be part of the Matchroom event topped by Josh Padley against Aqib Fiaz, live on DAZN, will be Atang’s seventh fight in 11 months on the roster.
In his last outing, against Viktar Chvarkou in April, the York man went the distance for the first time, winning 59-54 on referee Steve Gray’s card, which included a one-point deduction for use of the head from Atang. Incidentally, Belarusian Chvarkou will be Allen's opponent in his comeback fight later this month.
Although Atang wanted to secure another knockout, the points win meant he ticked another box in the apprenticeship phase of his career. Before that night, he had only been involved in seven rounds as a pro.
“The whole of fight week I said I needed rounds and that’s what I got,” he adds.
“My activity has been good and I think at the start of any career, especially when you’re young in boxing, you need that activity. I struggled a bit as an amateur to get fight so this is like making up for lost time.
“Before my debut I felt a lot of pressure because I’d been hyped up a bit. I felt like I need to perform so I was drained from the nerves. But people have seen what they want to see now so I can use these fights to actually learn and develop.”
But while a fight with Olaniyan, just 11 months his senior, lies in wait a few years down the line, next up for Atang is a fight with a man more than twice his age.
“I know he’s 40,” Atang says. “But I just do what I do against whoever is in front of me.”
