Should the Anderson
Silva–Logan Paul
boxing match come to fruition, famed boxing coach Luiz Dorea
expects that Silva will crush his opponent.
After training Silva (34-11 MMA, 2-1 Box) to outbox Julio Cesar
Chavez Jr. (52-6, 34 KOs Box), Dorea has his hands full with new
talent. Dorea, who also has coached Junior dos
Santos and Vitor
Belfort, will be taking charge of Robson Conceicao’s (16-0, 8
KOs) championship campaign against Oscar Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) in
September. The trainer has his sights set not just on this upcoming
match, but on the future of Silva in the ring, and he spoke to
Sherdog about Silva’s future.
“Logan proved to be a very brave and talented kid doing an
exhibition fight against the legend [Floyd] Mayweather,” Dorea
stated. “But, of course, if it were in official rules, the result
would be different. Let’s see if he will keep hiding under
exhibition rules or if he will test himself in the real world
[under professional rules]. In that case, I have no doubt Anderson
will knock him out.”
The win for Silva against Chavez Jr., according to Dorea, opened up
the doors of his academy in Los Angeles to bring many up-and-coming
fighters to stage their whole camps there.
“I called Anderson, and he opened his gym right away,” Dorea
explained. “It’s very important to make that camp in LA, where we
can have the support of a lot of Mexican sparring with a similar
style to Valdez.”
As a trainer of Belfort for several years, Dorea was also keen to
break down Belfort’s upcoming matchup with the legendary Oscar De
La Hoya in September.
“That will be a very interesting one,” Dorea admitted. “I would say
the result will depend on how each one will prepare for that fight.
Vitor is a very explosive fighter, four years younger, much
stronger and never abandoned the athlete routine. De La Hoya is one
of the GOATs of the sport, much more experienced in boxing matches
but we don’t know how he took care of his physical condition during
the long time off. The experience is, for sure, on De La Hoya’s
side, but I wouldn’t underestimate Belfort, who is very dangerous
in the first two rounds. I believe Oscar will move a lot and use
his experience to get the win via points.”
Finally, Dorea revealed that former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight
champion dos Santos is also closer to boxing than MMA in his return
to competition. Dos Santos was released from the organization in
March, ending an over 12-year run with the UFC.
“[Dos Santos] got a proposal to face Fedor [Emelianenko] in Russia,
but looks like Fedor didn’t answer yet; we also have a good one
from boxing, and I hope [his opponent] accepts that. Soon we must
bring great news to his fans,” Dorea concluded.