Photo: King’s Promotions

By Fightnews.com

Heavyweight Travis “My Time” Kauffman (31-1, 23 KOs) has been training hard for his showdown with Amir “Hardcore” Mansour (22-2-1, 16 KOs) that will headline Premier Boxing Champions: The Next Round on Bounce Friday, March 17 from Santander Arena in Reading, PA.

Televised coverage on Bounce begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT

Kauffman trained in Houston, Texas with famed trainer Naazim Richardson, and is ready for the hard punching Mansour.

“Everything is great. I was in Houston starting on December 20th and I came home on March 5th,” said Kauffman.

“I have been motivated knowing that I have a killer in front of me. Amir wants what I want, and that is a shot at the Heavyweight title.”

Kauffman has sacrificed a whole lot for this fight, as he missed important family moments in order to give himself the best opportunity to put his family in the best situation in the long run.

“I missed the holidays with my family. I also missed my sons birthday. I have never done that before. This has motivated me, and gives me such a mental edge and a bigger purpose for this fight.”

Being that Kauffman and Mansour (who has trained a majority of his career in Philadelphia) are only geographically separated by an hour, Kauffman knew this fight was bound to happen, and always visualized a fight with Mansour.

“I have always been confident that I could beat him. I was down in Texas working hard, and now I am in better shape, but I know when I win it will get me to the next level.”

That next level would be a shot at one of the heavyweight champions, and just on February 25th, WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder took out Gerald Washington in 5 rounds, for which many thought the champion showed some flaws, which Kauffman thinks he could exploit more should that match up occur.

“I watched the Wilder fight. I did expect Washington to present some problems for him, But Washington doesn’t have the experience. Deontay can punch, but Gerald showed that Deontay can be beat. He showed that Deontay is the most amateurish Heavyweight champion ever, but you have to give the man credit, he is 38-0 with 37 knockouts. He can punch and has a beautiful jab.”

But before a fight with Wilder or one of the other beltholders, Kauffman knows he has a tough task in front of him in Mansour.

“This fight will put me in the top-five. I just want to win this and fight one of the champions. I don’t care who I fight. I been working so hard in this fight so expect a better Travis Kauffman.”