Rylan Charlton says he will look to win by “any means possible” when he finally faces Florian Marku and says victory will enable him to profit on the Albanian’s huge fanbase.
Charlton (6-0-1, 3 KOs) meets fellow undefeated contender, Marku (7-0-1, 5 KOs) on February 20 in a rescheduled Welterweight clash after their original January 30 date was postponed in line with the British Boxing Board of Control’s decision to cancel all events under their jurisdiction this month, with Coronavirus rates in the UK increasing.
The ‘Pint Size Powerhouse’, who made his name after knocking out Newcastle favourite, Joe Laws in October is expecting a fan-friendly fight with the ‘Albanian King’ and says a win will elevate his profile further, with Marku holding an Instagram following of almost 500k.
“I’m really excited [to face Marku],” the 28-year-old told proboxing-fans.com
“Florian’s got a massive profile, he’s got nearly half a million followers, I think he’s on, so he’s big in the game on the old social media, which is good for me, because once I beat him I’ll be stealing some of his fans.
“So, it’s a very exciting fight. Obviously, he’s an exciting fighter, he comes forward, he’s a power puncher and all that.
“So, put two power punchers together, it’s going to be a good fight.”
Marku, a former kickboxer and MMA competitor is unbeaten in eight fights, but was held to a draw against Jamie Stewart on the undercard to Anthony Joshua’s victory over Kubrat Pulev at The SSE Arena in December.
Charlton, who like Marku signed with Matchroom Boxing recently believes his promotional stablemate is a tough operator, but admits he was not impressed with his last display against Stewart.
“I’m not that impressed with him to be honest,” Charlton added.
“I think he’s an alright fighter, he’s a tough guy, but I’m not too impressed, especially not after his last performance, I know he might have had an off night, but you can’t afford to have off nights in this game.
“He wanted this fight, after the Laws fight he was the one that was calling me out and he’s got what he wanted, so bring on the 20th.”
February 20th I will not leave it in the Judges hands @sjamboxing @EddieHearn @MatchroomBoxing pic.twitter.com/9TAnKtUSzO
— Florian Marku 👑 (@FlorianMarku92) January 16, 2021
Charlton is part of a thriving domestic scene which includes British and Commonwealth champion, Chris Jenkins, Michael McKinson, Conor Benn who faces Samuel Vargas on April 4 and Josh Kelly who finally clashes with European titlist David Avanesyan at the top of the bill on February 20.
The Norwich man believes a victory over Marku will put him right in the mix and catapult him towards a title shot this year.
“Once I beat Marku, I’m sure my profile’s going to be booming,” Charlton continued.
“So, that’ll be great and I’ll just sit back and I suppose I’m probably going to get called out left, right and centre like I did after the Laws one, so that’ll be entertaining.
“But yeah, I’ll just wait and see what [Promoter] Eddie [Hearn] wants to do with me and I’ll go as far as possible.
“Any kind of title I’ll go for, yeah [I’ll] see what position I get in kind of thing, but I’d love to have a title by the end of the year, for sure.”
Watch the full interview with Rylan Charlton below:
