‘Winning is not enough’ – Tony Bellew urges under the radar Tommy McCarthy to make a statement

‘Winning is not enough!’

That’s the simple message Tony Bellew has for Tommy McCarthy [16(8)-2(1)] ahead of his European title challenge tonight.

‘The Mac Attack’ takes on Bilal Laggoune [25(14)-2(0)-1] for the vacant EBU European title on the massive Usyk Chisora pay per view card, predicting victory will move him toward a world title shot.

However, to help his career moving forward, former cruiserweight world champion Bellew, believes McCarthy has to make the most of his time in the spotlight.

‘The Bomber’, a master fight-builder, has been a McCarthy fan since he employed the Belfast man as a sparring partner, and was on hand to give some advice post Thursday’s final press conference.

The retired fighter feels, that despite being a genuine talent, McCarthy is flying under the radar. He wants him to make some noise tonight and urged him to grab his chance under the bright lights, via a stand-out display or by opening his mouth post possible victory.

“Winning is not enough,” Bellew told McCarthy.

“Make yourself relevant. You don’t want to go into the ring and win on points and everyone says ‘did you see that fight’ but they don’t remember your name.

“I see it so many times in boxing, two fighters have a fight and people will be asking after ‘what was his name again’. Take that out of the equation, do something, saying something, shout someones name.”

Bellew is McCarthy familiar having used him as a sparring partner ahead of his victory over David Haye. The Liverpool native was impressed with what he saw from the Belfast man in the build up to that fight.

“I got him over for the first Haye fight. He’s a really good fighter and he has gone under the radar.

“He has all the ability, really good athlete, good hands, can punch a bit too, he can do everything.”