Photo credit to Phil Lambert/ BKFC
Josh Copeland on Steve Herelius Bout “A Win for All of Us”
Josh Copeland and Steve Herelius collide in the BKFC 50 co-main event on September 22nd.
Josh Copeland
This BKFC 50 fight was initially targeted for you at BKFC 41 a bit earlier in the year.
When did you initially hear about this rebooking and when did this fight become realigned?
“I mean I got a call from my manager that bare-knuckle was coming back to Denver and he said that they wanted me on the card. We didn’t have an opponent for, I don’t know, I’d say three-four weeks. Then yeah probably six-seven weeks ago, they told me Steve again. So yeah, here we go.”
Were you at a point preparing for that Herelius bout where you had a certain level of familiarity or game plan curated that can be applied to this fight here?
Or did you not really get that ramped up and deep into that camp with opponent-specific prep and everything?
“I mean we were definitely training for him, for sure. It was just crazy when I got the call for the opportunity to fight Ben, they asked me how much I was weighing. I stepped on the scale, I was 255. They told me ‘Hey, if you want this fight to happen, you got to get up to 270.’ So that’s the first time I’ve ever had a fight where I actually had to gain weight to get to a point. I had three weeks to put up on 15 pounds, but we made that work. Definitely more excited to fight on my regular weight for this one.”
BKFC 50
The last time your opponent fought in BKFC was a bit over two years ago at this point.
Is the BKFC 50 preparation more centric on what you’re doing and being adaptable? Or are you maybe gleaning something from that BKFC 18 fight that he had for your game plan?
“I mean honestly the gameplan’s usually always the same. I’m a smart intelligent fighter. Yeah, I’ve been in there with a lot of different guys. Trained with so many different guys and I know we’re all unique. Steve’s a good fighter, good fast hands, everything, so. But to me, it’s also something I haven’t not seen before. But I am confident in my skills and abilities to be able to adapt as I’m in there moving around. So, I think it’ll be good.”
Josh Copeland vs Steve Herelius
Your opponent is a former WBA interim cruiserweight champion in gloved boxing. Also, he does have that 1-0 BKFC record.
Do you have a predominant visualization for how this fight ends?
“No, that’s really not me. I mean same thing; I’ve been doing this long enough. I know sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. For me it’s, the only way I lose is if I don’t go out and do my best. At the end of the day, both Steve and I are performers. We want to put on a good show and as long as we go out there and we do that. Have some good fun, ooh and aww reactions from the fans, I think it’s definitely a win for all of us.”
BKFC
Is there a final parting thought you’d like to add as we’re wrapping up, man?
“No, I mean just, I’m thankful and grateful for all my fans that are out there. Everyone who’s going to tune in and I’ll go out there (and) put on a good show. Do the best that I can and yeah, thank you for your support. God bless and it’ll be fun.”
Live FREE prelims will begin at 8pm ET on September 22. Watch below:
Pay-per-view starts at 9pm ET below:
