Exclusive: Jerome Pampellone Ready For Whatever Conor Wallace Brings In Light Heavyweight Clash

New Zealand Light Heavyweight Jerome Pampellone (18-1-0) is looking to catapult himself into title contention on Wednesday night with a victory over Australia’s Conor Wallace (13-1-0). The pair will face off in a 12-round bout inside the ICC Sydney Theater, Sydney, Australia, with the IBF No.2 spot up for grabs.

Pampellone, ranked eighth with the organisation, is looking to return to the winner’s circle after suffering his first career defeat back in April when he lost via points to Libya’s Malik Zinad in an IBF world title eliminator.

It was a frustrating night in the office for Pampellone, who, despite landing several heavy shots on Zinad, was unable to seize control of the 12-round contest. However, rather than get downhearted, Pampellone used the loss to reevaluate areas of his game that he needed to focus on an

‘That’s my first time going 12 rounds, and I went through a lot of adversity in that fight. So lots of things happened in that fight that didn’t happen in the fights before. So it’s a big learning curve. It sucks to lose. I hate losing, but looking back on it now, I see it as a blessing and a blessing to get better,” he explains.

When the offer came through to face Wallace, ranked sixth in the IBF, Pampellone leapt at the opportunity.

“It shows a lot about myself and my team that we just want to fight the best and be the best and [to] have an opportunity like this; we’re not going to let it slide.”

Wallace comes into the fight riding a six-fight winning streak, with five of those fights coming via stoppage. The Irish-born fighter has never been one to back down from scrap, but Pampellone is aware that Wallace is not simply a ‘stand and bang’ boxer.

“He likes to move, but then he also likes to fight. So that’s what we’ve been practicing in the camp, making sure anything he does bring to the table, we’re ready for it.”

For this camp, Pampellone has been able to train full-time as a boxer for the first time in his career. It is a testament to his natural ability that he has risen up the ranks the way he has while also holding down a job outside of boxing.

However, for this fight, all of Pampellone’s energy has gone into preparing himself for the most important bout of his career. A trip to Australia gave him valuable sparring time with several skilled southpaw fighters. This type of sparring can be more challenging to find when based in New Zealand, which has a smaller talent pool.

The long hours spent in the gym and constant refinement of his skillset are grueling, but for Pampelloene, it is all necessary as he works towards his goal of earning a world title shot.

“It never stops; that’s why I love the sport so much; you know, you are just constantly learning, constantly improving. I still have a while to go until you see the the best of me; it’s just getting better and better.”

Australian boxing fans can watch the live PPV on live on Main Event, Kayo and Fox Sports.