Aspinall's teammate claims Pereira previously declined Tom fight

Phil de Fries, a training partner of Tom Aspinall, stated that Alex Pereira previously turned down an opportunity to fight Tom. De Fries believes Aspinall is better than Ciryl Gane and that the matchup would be an excellent fight for Tom. He suggested that stylistically, opponents present different challenges for each fighter. The claim adds intrigue to potential heavyweight matchups, though details about when and under what circumstances Pereira allegedly declined the fight were not provided.