Khosrowpour can’t wait for his night in the limelight

As one of the least experienced boxers in the Edinburgh team for tonight’s boxing extravaganza against London at Princes Street Gardens, you might expect Clovenstone lightheavyweight Pieyam Khosrowpour to have plenty of worries about his forthcoming showdown with Andre Bowen.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Mentored physically by former Hearts star Lee Wallace, who is his personal conditioner and will be in attendance tonight, Khosrowpour has had to also deal with a late change in opponent. However, the 24-year-old shows little evidence of nerves and is simply “raring to go” ahead of the Clash of the Capitals.

“Even though the real tension and excitement about boxing on this ground-breaking show probably won’t hit me until today’s weigh-in at Princes Street gardens, I honestly can’t wait to get in the ring.

“It’s not often a guy like me, with less than ten amateur bouts under their belt, will get the chance to box at somewhere like Princes Street Gardens.

“The fact I’ve got a bit less experience doesn’t really bother me, though, because [supermiddleweight champion] Kenny Anderson, who’ll be cheering me on from the VIP section of the arena at ringside, spent the whole of last week teaching me in his gym how to position myself in the ring to gain maximum punching advantage.

“He also showed me how to command the centre of the ring and try to dictate the pace and flow of the fight, while also working on improving my movements.

“He gave me first-class sparring, while I also got to spar with top pro Jeff Thomas, who boxes next week in the Prizefighter tournament.

“That was a really valuable education.” Khosrowpour works as a heating engineer for city company Arthur McKay – former sponsors of Alex Arthur – and will have to contend with the heat being firmly on him tonight, with his boss, workmates and friends all being in attendance.

He explained: “My boss Paul McKay is going to support me at ringside and so are my workmates, friends and family.

“I work as a heating engineer for the Arthur McKay company so I suppose that you could say the heat is really on me.

“But far from bothering me, it is motivating me to try to produce my best-ever ring performance, even though I don’t know a lot about my London opponent.

“Similarly, I am in tip-top condition because [Rangers player and former Hearts star] Lee Wallace is my personal conditioner and he’s going to be at ringside in the Gardens to watch me box.

“You would have to be brain dead not to be thrilled about this boxng show.

“My family are also thrilled that I’m going to be part of such an historic occasion.

“With less than ten bouts in total under my belt, I never expected to be involved in something this big so early in my boxing career – it’s just amazing.”