It’s movie night for Patrick Nielsen (23-1, 11 KOs) and Joey Gamache! The Danish boxer and his star coach have taken time out of their busy training schedule to conduct some invaluable research on Nielsen’s next opponent, the ferocious Comanche warrior, George Tahdooahnippah (34-1-2, 24 KOs).
After a final training session, Nielsen was summoned to Gamache’s Copenhagen flat, where the American coach sat in wait with a bowl of chips and a copy of the 1956 John Wayne western, ‘The Searchers’.
‘’This is an important research assignment,’’ said Gamache. ‘’We must learn the way of the Comanche, if we are to defeat them.’’
In ‘The Searchers’, Wayne plays a civil war veteran battling the Comanche tribe in an attempt to rescue his niece. On Saturday night, Nielsen will face a similar struggle when he takes on a real-life Comanche at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen.
‘’When I used to watch the old cowboy movies I would always cheer for the Indians,’’ reveals the 23-year-old southpaw. ‘’But not this time, on March 14, I’m the cowboy, I’m John Wayne, I will defeat the Comanche!’’
The movie night offers a moment of light relief from the serious training. Gamache reveals it is a welcome break from the hours he spends analysing footage of Nielsen’s opponent Tahdooahnippah.
‘’I couldn’t even tell you how many hours I’ve spent watching tapes of Tahdooahnippah,’’ said the former two-time world champion. ‘’A lot of work goes in to studying an opponent and seeing what they are all about. This is a big fight for us, so you’ve got to invest a lot of time.
‘’I look out for patterns, so I know what’s going to happen in the ring. You watch the tapes over and over until a see a move or a tell. They could move to the left or move to the right before throwing a certain shot. It’s all about the patterns. Then you use this information to give your fighter the advantage.”
Nielsen faces Tahdooahnippah for the WBA International Super Middleweight title on March 14 at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen.
