Tom Aspinall's teammate claims Alex Pereira declined fight with Tom previously

Phil de Fries, a teammate of Tom Aspinall, stated that Alex Pereira previously turned down an opportunity to fight Tom. De Fries believes Tom is better than Ciryl Gane and that stylistically, different opponents present different challenges for Aspinall. He suggested this would have been a great fight for Tom. The post asks fans to weigh in on which opponent would be more stylistically difficult for Pereira: Aspinall or Gane. The claim adds context to ongoing heavyweight title picture discussions, though details about when or under what circumstances Pereira allegedly declined are limited.