Jeffry Batista ahead of his WOW FC return: “You have to learn to lose just as you learn to win”

“You have to learn to lose just as you learn to win.” Jeffry Batista has placed mental strength at the heart of his message ahead of his return to WOW FC. The Dominican fighter based in Spain, also referred to as Jefferson Batista (6-1), comes off a long and successful spell in AFL and is due to make his debut this weekend at WOW 32 Seville against Peru’s Junior Hernández (6-1-1).

The WOW FC fighter spoke ahead of his return to the promotion where he had completed his amateur run. In his view, time has eventually put things in their proper place and the moment has now arrived. Batista says he is looking for sufficiently demanding challenges to prepare for his ambitions, and believes WOW is the best setting in Spain for that.

This move is not, he insists, driven by anything negative concerning AFL. On the contrary, he says he is fully grateful to an organisation that backed him from the start and supported him in every way it could. In his eyes, both companies are doing a good job on their respective paths; he describes AFL as an ideal promotion to begin with, both in amateur competition and at the start of a professional career. Images also show him celebrating an AFL win and posing in a photo shoot.

Batista also stresses the need to be honest with oneself. He says he sees people claim to have devoted their lives to the sport when, in his view, that is not the case, referring in particular to those who have a career and three master’s degrees. He does not deny them merit or claim that this determines their level, but rejects them presenting themselves as something they are not. He adds that those genuinely involved in this world without support know what work, intense training, struggling to make ends meet and paying expenses entail.

His thoughts on defeat stem from his own path. After losing his unbeaten record, he returned with a stoppage win. He says he knew that bout would be very difficult, aware of his opponent’s record and background, but wanted to face a good fighter to assess his own level. What affected him most, he says, was not the defeat itself but being unable to measure himself against that opponent in the way he wanted.

Unhappy, he took a few days to think and question certain things. He nevertheless believes accepting defeat is part of being a competitor: in his view, there is only one competitor who has remained unbeaten throughout his life. He cites Ilia, who has just lost a fight but remains, in Batista’s eyes, the best of the “66” at present. For Batista, the right mindset is built fight by fight, and every setback can make an athlete tougher.

That philosophy accompanies his bout with Hernández, which he describes as a very hard fight. That is exactly what he wants: to test himself against the best, establish his level and improve. “The only way” to do so, he believes, is to fight the best.

His preparation has been complicated by personal reasons that prevented him from travelling much. He nevertheless says he has trained very hard from home and has been preparing to fight for a long time. A bout planned for June fell through, meaning he has virtually linked two training camps; he says he worked and trained extensively throughout the summer, with the last month especially difficult. His assessment remains pragmatic: you have to make do with the resources available.

For his return, Batista promises the public an entertaining fight. He says followers of the sport know he will look to finish the bout if he gets the opportunity, an approach which, in his view, creates anticipation and affection. While focused first on Seville, he then mentions the possibility of following the examples of Escher and Fabià in WOW, continuing to show what he can do and looking towards the path to the welterweight title.

As for a potential meeting with David Hervías, whom he faced twice as an amateur, Batista points out that they no longer compete in the same division. Middleweight feels far too distant to him, given how substantial the difference in size and weight would be. He does not see the fight as offering sporting value, unless there were a purse of 100,000 euros; in that case, he says, they would obviously give each other a very hard fight. He considers them both to be two of Spain’s biggest prospects.