Junior welterweights Sam Eggington and Lee Cutler will meet on April 20 in Birmingham, and are expecting their fight to unfold in a proverbial “phonebox”.
Veteran Eggington, 31, will be boxing in front of his hometown fans at the Resorts World Arena, hoping to improve on his 35-9 (20 KOs) record.
Wearing a baseball cap with No Excuses written across it, Eggington said he had not seen much of Cutler, who is from Bournemouth, but said he was ready for a good fight. At today’s press conference in London, Eggington said: “I don’t really watch too much boxing, so I’ve never really watched Cutler box. I saw bits of him when we were on the same show the other year, but from what the coaches have told me, he likes to come forward and throw shots and we will meet there, and see how it ends.”
Eggington has fought in several Fight of the Year contenders, and hopes are high for this clash. And the Birmingham “Savage” believes he has plenty left to offer.
“I enjoy my boxing. When I’m training and boxing, I love what I’m doing, so the ambition is to keep a job that you want to do,” he said. “The bouts are great, you get paid well, but I enjoy boxing and the ambition is to keep on doing it at a high level.”
Cutler once bought a ticket to watch David Haye fight Tony Bellew at the O2 Arena in London and Sam Eggington defeated Paulie Malignaggi on the undercard. “It seems like yesterday,” said the Bournemouth man, who had lost an amateur fight the night before. “It’s weird how life works out. Now I’m here fighting him. It’s an honor to be here and fight on this sort of stage, and I can’t wait to show what I’m made of. Again.”
Cutler, 15-1 (7 KOs), was the underdog when he boxed Ireland’s Stephen McKenna in December, but wound up winning a thriller over 10 rounds, flooring McKenna twice.
“A lot of people doubted me,” he said. “Me, my coach and my team know what we do in the gym. I’m part of the best country in the stable now, the McGuigan Gym, under Josh Pritchard, and I’m just improving all the time. Every spar I’m getting better and better and I can’t wait to show it.
“Sam Eggington is the biggest name on my record now, or will be, and from there (I will) hopefully go on and headline down in Bournemouth. But I need to get through Sam before I can do that.”
Asked what type of fight he expected, Cutler said: “In a phonebox. That’s what I’ve been working on.”
Eggington replied: “That’s meat and drink, I’ll take that every day and twice on Sunday. I’ve got no bad words to say about him. It’s a fight and we’re both there to win.”
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