ANDREAS EVENSEN (11-1, three early) is a featherweight prospect that fights out of Melhus, Norway. UK fans may best remember him for his fifth-round stoppage of EBU-ranked Gianpiero Contestabile on the Matthew Macklin-Amin Asikainen undercard on September 25 of last year. Andreas was delighted to fight abroad.

“I was very pleased to box in another country, because then I could show my boxing skills to another crowd,” he divulged. “Most of my fights have been in Germany and Finland. Now I am better known, especially in Finland, and I think it's only a positive thing that people in England also know who I am now. I am also very pleased with the victory over Gianpiero Contestabile, even though I have lots to learn."

Andreas has also had a bout since then. “I had a fight in Finland on November 27, where I met Mihaly Telefki,” he revealed. “I floored him with a body shot in the first round, and the referee stopped the fight in the second.”

These wins are impressive considering that in his country, boxing is not only frowned upon, it is illegal. “I believe it makes your development as a fighter harder, of course,” the Stonehand Promotions boxer admitted. “This is because financially it's harder to get sponsors, and I also think that other sportsmen in Norway don’t think of pro boxing as a sport, but more of a circus. Also, I think Norwegians do not know how big this sport is. Norway is most known for our cross country skiers and other winter sportsmen. Luckily I am in a good and serious environment where my team and I are focusing on getting better every day, but it's hard when I don't get fights too often and always have to travel outside Norway for fights."

He continued, “Travelling isn't something that irritates me though. I like to travel and see new places, but sometimes it would've been nice to stay at home for both the training camp and the fight. In Norway it is hard to find good sparring though. Sometimes, we try to hire some sparring partners from other countries. In our gym there are always some boxers who can put up with me for a couple of rounds, but it's harder when I need good and tough sparring five days a week, with six or eight rounds each day."

The 23-year-old attributes a lot of his success to his trainer, Helge Waeroy. “Helge is a trainer who pushes me every day in training, because he knows what is waiting for me out there,” Evensen noted. “Our philosophy is 'if you train hard, the fight is easy'. We always try to get faster, stronger and better, so I really believe Helge is the coach who can take me all the way to the top. He really gets the best out of me and we are a good team.”

Evensen, who won 42 of his 52 amateur fights, is convinced that he can capture world titles, and is ready to sacrifice to get to the top level. “I really believe I can fight with the best in the world,” he insisted. “I didn't embarrass myself in the fight with Benoit Gaudet [In his seventh fight, Andreas lost to Benoit Gaudet in a close contested points decision. Gaudet has since gone on to face world-class Humberto Soto]. On the contrary I also feel I showed I have lots to learn, but my time will come were I will fight for a world title. Now I have 12 fights and much more experience. If I continue in this pace I hope I'll fight for a world title when I have 25 fights, give or take a few maybe. But of course, my eyes and all my focus is on the next fight. There is no more important fight than the next one!"

To wrap up, Andreas wanted to thank his fans for their support, and had a message for British supporters reading this. “One things thats really motivates me is that people who have a huge passion in this sport says to me 'nice fight, way to go and keep up the good work!'” he said. “I always try to fight in an entertaining fashion, and I hope I'll box in England again.”