Boxing: Azzaoui two fights away from world title shot

New Zealand boxer Mohamed Azzaoui is eyeing a WBA top five ranking should he win his next bout on Friday night in Auckland.

The New Zealand and Pan Asian Boxing Association cruiserweight champion is ranked No 11 by the World Boxing Association (WBA). But he will jump six places should he defeat Pan African champion Aloryi Moyoyo Mensah at the Auckland Boxing Association venue.

Should Azzaoui, 30, beat Mensah, he is next scheduled to fight the WBA's yet-to-be-determined South American champion in Seattle on November 22. A victory there would lift him to No 2 and almost certainly earn him a WBA title shot.

Kerikeri trainer Anthony Warren said Azzaoui was in the best shape of his life after dropping from the 90.7kg cruiserweight limit he fought at last time to his usual weight of 88kg.

"We just found he lost a bit of speed at 90.7kg and he's just as powerful when he's at 88kg," Warren said.

Preparations have been slightly handicapped by the fact Warren has not been able to track down any footage of Mensah.

"All I know about him is he knocked out a former cruiserweight world champion."

The Algerian-born fighter came to New Zealand after losing in the second round (he got a first-round bye) at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

He met Ngawha (just outside Kaikohe) woman Mihi Puriri while there and emigrated to Northland. The couple have since married and he is a naturalised New Zealander.

Warren said that Azzaoui, a strict Muslim, had adjusted well to life in New Zealand's Far North.

"I got him a job at the local timber mill," Warren said. "It's helped him fit in and it's been good for him socially."

As an amateur, the orthodox Azzaoui won 199 of his 210 bouts. He turned professional in 2000 after the Olympics and has fought 19 times for 17 wins, eight by knockout, and two draws.

Azzaoui is bankrolled by Mainfreight founder Bruce Plested.

"I definitely believe we have a boxer here who has a real chance to become a world champion and that is pretty bloody exciting," Plested said.

From 1995 to 2000, Azzaoui won and defended Algeria's national heavyweight title nine times, won gold at the African Games six times and won boxing competitions in Europe, Cuba and the Middle East.