“We spoke on Google Translate for a good 12 months before we were able to have a conversation where we could both understand each other,” says boxing coach Marlee Dann.
It was 2018 when the Plymouth-based trainer brought a talented teenage amateur fighter to the Devon town from Moldova.
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Fast forward seven years and Constantin Ursu, that 18-year-old from Chisinau, has turned into one of the best up-and-coming welterweights in Europe.
On Saturday he will fight Ryan Amos for the WBO European and Commonwealth welterweight titles at the York Hall in London.
“Constantin will win a version of the world title I believe,” says Dann who comes from a celebrated Plymouth boxing family that includes former British, Commonwealth and IBO Inter-Continental middleweight champion Scott.
“I think that Constantin’s got all the abilities to be able to dismantle elite athletes.
“He’s incredibly intelligent, he’s incredibly fit, he has a great skill, he has everything that it takes to dismantle anyone that’s really in front of him.
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“He is young, he’s 25 years old, so we’ve still got another five to 10 years where we can do something and he’s already in a position now where he’s becoming noticed.
“I feel that anyone that’s put in front of Constantin he will rise to the occasion and be able to really show his class.”
‘It’s been seven years now’
Ursu won the Commonwealth Boxing Council welterweight title last December [Shutterstock]
With fewer local fighters coming to his gym, Dann began looking abroad for talent.
It led to him finding the 6ft 3in (1.9m) southpaw from a country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine in eastern Europe.
“I have one friend here, he’s been here for 10 years now, and he met Marlee,” explains Ursu.
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“They had a chat and said ‘we have someone in Moldova’.
“At the time I didn’t want to move. I was comfortable in my country and staying home. I have a good family, good friends.
“Then Marlee messaged me and said ‘come for a month’, after this month it’s been seven years now.”
He added: “Plymouth is very safe city. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, there’s good people around, everyone wants me to do very good in life and everyone tries to help me.
“It’s very easy in life when you have good people around and they want only good for you, it’s very easy to achieve something.”
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For Dann, who has seen Ursu sparring at close quarters for the past seven years, that ‘something’ could be huge.
“I’ve seen Constantin in the ring with world champions, I’ve seen Constantin in the with European champions, British champions. I’ve never seen anyone get the better of Constantin,” he says of his fighter who won a silver medal at the 2015 European Junior Boxing Championships before winning a bronze three years later.
“It’s kind of one of those situations where you’ve seen it, and if you see it, you believe it.
“For me it’s one of those things where I just think Constantin’s going to do it.”
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‘I will be world champion’
Ursu made his professional debut in November 2019 [Shutterstock]
Ursu has taken the city of Plymouth to his heart.
He has become a big fan of Plymouth Argyle and is regularly at Home Park cheering on the League One side with the Green Army, while he can be seen running around the city as part of his training.
“Every day I wake up, I go for a run and this gives me confidence, because I work hard and I’m smart enough to analyse what I do,” Ursu says.
“If I don’t go to work, running, doing things, how do I be confident in myself? But now I do everything, even ice baths.
“Every day you win small things, like you don’t drink sugary things, or you don’t eat these things, it’s little wins. These small wins give you confidence, you build this confidence and after people ask you, why are you confident?
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“I know why. I win every day in the small things.”
And that confidence has given Ursu a belief that he will become the best on the planet in the next few years, thanks to his move to the UK.
“Definitely I will be world champion in 2027.
“Hopefully I will take every belt. I want to take everything in 147 pounds and then I’ll move up to super-welterweight and hopefully take again everything.
“I don’t have any limits I think. What God gives to me, I will take everything that he gives. But if tomorrow I broke my hands, I can’t box anymore, I’m still happy. This is life.”