Originally from Albania, Marku actually came across kickboxing first which he discovered in a television advert with a friend before moving to the United Kingdom. “10 years ago, I was with a friend, and we saw a commercial about kickboxing and that’s how it started”. Marku said that he spent eight years kick boxing, “It’s only the last two years since I’ve been in the UK I started boxing”.

The 27-year-old admits that being professional wasn’t always on his agenda, when asked about turning pro he quickly said, “Not really no, it’s only something that’s come about recently”. Since starting boxing he knew that becoming professional was something that was very achievable “Yes very, after the experience I’ve had my skills and ability have improved so much, I really believe in myself”.

A Pound for Pound regular of two years now, he couldn’t speak highly enough of the Palace, “It’s helped me a lot. Since I came here, it’s been great I’ve learnt so much, not just boxing other new things as well”. Marku also spoke about the development of his skills and the community spirit within the gym; this was evident as fellow professional boxer Gracjan Bak offered to help and train him after a month away.

He went on to say about his role models within the sport and who he aspires to be like “I really like Vasiliy Lomachenko, his style and that he’s a southpaw like me”. Another boxer he spoke about was Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez “I like Canelo too especially his head movement and some other boxers too”.

Despite a win last time out, Marku was very critical of his performance “It was really good to get the win, but I was so tired and very tight, I didn’t perform to my best”, he then confessed that it had been four years since his previous fight (kickboxing).

With the boxing season coming to an end Marku spoke of how his season went, “The last year I’ve been training so hard, had a fight, I think it’s been a really good year”. He then said about his record for this season, “I’ve only had one fight in the UK, right when the season begun”. Even though there were limited bouts for Marku he feels that he’s improved a lot in the ring “I’ve improved my skills a lot, head movement, power, explosion. Pretty much everything”.

The next stage in Marku’s career is making that step and having his first professional fight. He’s on the verge of signing his first contract and this is how he feels about the transition from amateur, “I think I’m going to be ok. My style is much better suited to a professional fighter. I like to think every step and every punch I throw suits that style much better”. He then spoke about what he thinks he can achieve now that he’s professional, “I want to do something special. I want to improve in my category, and I believe I can do great things and do a lot of things in this sport”.

Much like his movement in the ring, Marku produced a quick, straight to the point interview and is

definitely destined to do something special in boxing.