Charles Conwell and his boxing future could run through Hurd or Williams

Junior middleweight Charles Conwell fights for the third time in 2020 on Dec. 17 against Madiyar Ashkeyev. He shares his plans for his boxing future. 

Junior middleweight Charles Conwell is one of the best boxing talents under the age of 25. The accomplished 23-year-old faces his biggest test yet in Madiyar Ashkeyev on Thursday, Dec. 17, but he has a plan to attain a world title.

Conwell (13-0, 10 KOs), of Cleveland, Ohio, knocked out then-undefeated Wendy Toussaint in October. Conwell controlled the action throughout the fight but turned it on in round 9 when he unleashed a right uppercut that busted Toussaint’s nose. Toussaint had enough and took a 10-count on one knee.

Conwell fought a bit reserved for part of the fight, but he knew what he was doing.

“I knew right after the Wendy Toussaint fight I could possibly have another fight,” Conwell told FanSided. “With the Wendy Toussaint fight, I really didn’t want to get hit that much, and I stayed tight. That was one of the big gameplans — for me not to get cut, for me not to get no bruises or nothing like that, so I could come right back and put on a good show at the end of the year.”

Conwell played his cards right and now has Ashkeyev (14-0, 7 KOs) next for Ring City USA, who is a step up from Toussaint.

“I think this is the toughest fight of my career so far,” said Conwell. “I really can’t say that until I get in there, but on paper, it looks like the toughest fight of my career so far. I know he’s going to be really tough. He’s going to bring it. He’s going to try to win. I’m going to be on my A-game to make sure I can do everything I can to get the win and just dominate and look good doing it.”

Charles Conwell has world-title ability but wants elite fighters to sharpen his skills against

Ashkeyev is not well known, but he’s a 32-year-old from Kazakhstan with a perfect professional record and a strong amateur background. He lacks notable wins but could give Conwell some trouble.

Conwell is confident that he will defeat Ashkeyev and sees him as the next step in his progression. The thing with Conwell is that he has a clear vision of how he wants his career to play out.

“I want to fight a world title challenger,” revealed Conwell. “Then I want to fight an ex-world champion. Then I want to get into a title eliminator and probably fight another contender or ex-world champion or something like that. Then I want to fight a world champ. That’s how I plan it in my head, but you never know with this kind of stuff.”

When pressed for names on the kind of boxers he foresees as future opponents, Conwell mentioned former champions Julian Williams and Jarrett Hurd. Williams lost his titles to Jeison Rosario in January, while Hurd has been out of boxing since a decision win against Francisco Santana in January.

FanSided brought up another former champion in Tony Harrison, but Conwell and Harrison have a strong friendship. For his fight with Ashkeyev, Conwell spent some time preparing at Harrison’s gym in Detroit, although the two didn’t spar together when Conwell was in town. Conwell wouldn’t want to fight a friend like Harrison but wouldn’t let anything or anyone get between him and a world title opportunity.

“That wouldn’t be my first choice because we know each other so well, but if we had to, if I had to fight him to get to a world championship, I would have to take it, I think,” said Conwell. “But that wouldn’t be my first choice because we’re so close.”

It will be interesting to see what Conwell does against Ashkeyev. Future bouts against the likes of Hurd and Williams could be on the horizon.

Watch Charles Conwell vs. Madiyar Ashkeyev on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 9 p.m. ET on NBCSN as the main event of Ring City USA’s fight card.