For a long time, Tom Aspinall’s fighting future was on hold as the interim heavyweight champ waited for the UFC and Jon Jones to negotiate a title unification bout. That didn’t come together, and now Jones is out as champ. Aspinall is in, and he’s defending his title at UFC 321.
What’s next? Tom’s father / coach / manager Andy Aspinall shared his plans in a new video uploaded to the heavyweight champ’s YouTube channel.
“He’ll have a fight now and hopefully he’ll have a fight January,” Andy said. “And
hopefully he’ll have a fight, I’d like him to headline a card in England if he wants to do that again. And then just see what he wants to do from that.”
There aren’t a ton of big money options in the heavyweight division these days, so after that blast of activity Andy is hoping Aspinall will get the opportunity for a big money boxing crossover fight.
“I’d love him to have a very highly paid boxing match, for the money,” Aspinall Sr. said. “You know, the money’s there, and I don’t see why somebody as talented as Tom shouldn’t have a piece of that money when the boxers are getting 100 times more … more than a 100 times more.”
“The UFC ain’t paying that type of money,” he continued. “If they would, it would be great and he could get the money. But I think these one percent of people who are very, very good should get paid.”
“You know, Tom’s money, some people say it’s good. Compared to a football, soccer player? An American footballer who we’ve talked to, over in America, [Tom’s] earning a tiny fraction of what they’re earning, and he’s one of the best in the world at doing what he does, and not getting paid enough, and it’s very dangerous.”
Andy has said his primary goal is to see his son out of the sport with his health intact. Get the money, get the glory, and get out.
“When he’s got enough to get out of it, I’d say get out of it,” he said. “And if I see that he’s not doing good enough … I don’t know. I can’t make him get out of it, and I can’t beg him to get out of it. But I’d have to say, ‘Look, I can’t see this happening to you.'”
For now there’s no sign that Tom Aspinall’s skills are deteriorating, so we’ve got some time left to enjoy watching him work. If Andy has his way, though, that time may be shorter than we’d like. Especially if they manage to finesse a big boxing match into existence.
