Andre Petroski is putting fighting first
Andre Petroski speaks with MyMMANews
Undefeated as the Art of War [AOW] middleweight champion, Andre Petroski is still changing the way he approaches fights.
It seems like Petroski is doing everything right. He is yet to go past the second round in all five of his professional bouts.
Most recently, the 28-year-old earned his fifth-straight finish by defeating Andre Hall at AOW 16 on Feb. 7. Despite the win streak, Petroski struggles with balancing training and working, as well as battling the lure of social media.
Petroksi did not feel like himself before and after his first title defense.
“The way I felt going into that fight was like, ‘Shit, I’m not prepared for the way I should be for this fight.’ I don’t want to do that again,” Petroksi said.
“I think I just realized after my last fight, even though I dominated, I was dead tired after the fight.”
Fighting is coming first for Andre Petroski. Quarantining because of the COVID-19 pandemic is only giving him more time to evaluate his future fight camps.
Petroski’s earlier approaches served him well. It’s tough to argue otherwise with a perfect record.
The Pennsylvania native is not staying content regardless of his past success. A lack of focus is what he targets as an issue in the past.
“I want to focus on conditioning obviously first, but I also need to get back to just being a student of the game,” Petroski said. “If I’m being honest, I have been obsessed with fighting and studying film specifically in the past.
There is also some factors out of Petroski’s control.
“Sometimes you have injuries, sometimes you can’t spar as much as you want,” Petroski said. “At the end of the day you got to be ready to fight whether it’s a weeks notice or you have a full training camp.”
The proving ground
Petroski took a step up in competition in his last two bouts. He put away a 19-fight veteran in Shedrick Goodridge in the second round at AOW 15 on Dec. 13, 2019.
Goodridge came into the fight with a losing record, but still carried more fights than Petroski.
The former collegiate wrestler then took on Hall, who held a win over UFC middleweight Eryk Anders at the amateur level. Petrovski is still looking for more when it comes to his opponents.
“Whether it’s two fights, three fights or 10 fights down the line, I’m going to face someone and we’re going to see,” Petroski said. “I’m going to get tested.”
Petroski fought all five of his professional bouts under the AOW banner. His next fight could be his first away from the promotion.
According to Petroski, he was in talks with ONE FC before the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Although the Asia-based promotion is currently off the table due to the virus, Petroski is eying a potential Island Fights card scheduled for June.
He could head to Florida after only previously fighting in Pennsylvania.
The destination of his next bout is unknown, but a different approach is something he is sure of. Petroski is ready to see where he stands.
“At this point, I’m really down for whatever,” Petroski said. “My theory is if you are the best in the world, you are going to be the best in the world and we will find out.”
