Magee confident of Bute upset

27 December 2010 – Alex Gulrajani

Brian Magee will finally get a shot at a world title next year when he goes glove-to-glove with IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in Canada.

The former British and European champion will face the undefeated Romanian on March 19 in Montreal and is delighted with the outcome following the collapse of negotiations with WBA holder Dimitry Sartison.

I couldnt ask for a better situation at a better time, he said.

To fight the best in the world, just after St Patricks Day in Montreal, is a dream come true. To be involved in one of the biggest fights of the year is just great.

The 30-year-old will be a tough opponent five out of his six defences have all finished inside the distance but Magee is determined to crown his career with world recognition.

Im always confident going into a fight. Bute has a good record I have one myself but at the end of the day, hes just a man like me. Ive only got one real defeat on my record to Carl Froch and look what hes doing now!

Ive turned things around since that defeat and managed to get back to where I believe I should be. Ive got to make the most of it while Im here and Im enjoying it. Because of all the hard things Ive had to go through, I appreciate it a lot more.

Januarys fight with Mads Larsen meant Christmas was cancelled in the Magee household last year and with a world title fight in March, the party season is well and truly over for this year as well.

It s all work, work, work at the moment but Ill still enjoy Christmas Day this year I think Ill squeeze in a dinner this year! Ive been ticking over in training with my fitness classes and Im in a great position to start training for the fight.

Within the super middleweight world, all the talk across the water has been the rise to prominence of Englands James DeGale.

Since turning professional following success at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there was talk of the British super-middleweight champion having his eyes on Magees European belt but the Lisburn man has bigger sights in mind.

They all ask to fight you when they know theres no chance of getting it, especially the young guys coming through. Itll never happen now with me vacating the European belt and yet theyre still calling for fights with me for the title – its just noise to get themselves publicity, Magee said.

Theyre jumping on my bandwagon, especially the likes of DeGale. When I met him, he never mentioned he wanted to fight me so thats the way I see if they cant say it to your face then its all white noise to me.

Id love to fight Carl Froch again hes done amazing. It shows what a good fighter he was when I fought him. It would be a massive fight it would be a dream fight as well and would be even better than this fight if he goes on to win the Super Six [a unification tournament of the WBC and WBA super-middleweight belts].

But for the time being, becoming a world champion is Magees main target and hopefully becoming another in a long line of Irish boxing greats.