Alex Pereira reportedly declined fight with Tom Aspinall, says teammate

Phil de Fries, a teammate of Tom Aspinall, has claimed that Alex Pereira previously turned down an opportunity to face Aspinall. De Fries stated his belief that Aspinall is better than Ciryl Gane and that opponents match up differently stylistically with Tom, though he acknowledged it would be an excellent fight for Aspinall. The claim suggests Pereira declined a potential heavyweight superfight. No additional context or details about when or under what circumstances the fight was offered are provided in the statement.