Alfredo Meli puts it ‘All on the Line’ on November 20th at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast when he clashes with Cyclone prospect Conrad Cummings for the BBBoC Celtic middleweight title. The Belfast man is a live underdog, albeit hotly tipped by some, going into the bout, and the disparity in preparations is emphasised by the fact that Meli is working a full-time job and training in the evenings whilst Cummings trains full-time in London in Shane McGuigan’s state-of-the-art Battersea Gym.

Despite the biggest fight of his life being just under five weeks away, Meli is unable to focus entirely on his preparations, explaining to the Irish News that “I have to work too because boxing doesn’t pay at the minute so I have to keep on my job (Meli is a technician at Charles Hurst Vauxhall).”

Nevertheless, the Immaculata man believes that this will not effect the final result, reasoning that “I’ll do plenty of runs and plenty of tough sparring – just the usual, I’m not going to do anything special. I’ll just train hard and hopefully that night, when it comes, there’ll only be one winner.”

Regarding his opponent, Meli feels that the clash of the unbeaten Ulster middleweights will be a real crowd-pleaser as “we have the same style so it should make a fight. He’ll try and blow me away in the first couple of rounds so it will be an exciting scrap.”

“He’ll be expecting the same from me, he’ll be expecting me to come out and blow him away.”

“There’s not going to be much to choose between us – it’s going to be a real rough, tough fight. I’m looking forward to it to be honest.”

On the big-punching, powerful reputation that Cummings carries into the bout, Meli isn’t phased, arguing that “No, I wouldn’t say he is (a big puncher).”

“He has a few stoppages on his record, I have a few stoppages on my record but it doesn’t make you a big puncher. To me there’s no such thing as a big puncher – you’re just fortunate if the other guy goes down.”

“He’s had a lot more publicity than me but it’s a big opportunity for me because I’ll get publicity and be recognised now.”

Tickets for Meli-Cummings ‘All on the Line’ priced from £35. For tickets contact the boxers themselves, or call the Waterfront Hall Box Office on 028 9033 4400, or go to www.cyclonepromotions.com