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Brian Magee is looking to revive his career by making sure Irish eyes are smiling at the end of his British Super-Middleweight Title showdown against Stevie McGuire at the Brentwood Centre on Saturday, 13th December 2008.
The Belfast boxer has his third crack at becoming British champion after losing to newly crowned WBC world champion Carl Froch in 2006 and then being held to a controversial draw with Tony Oakey last year.
The draw with Oakey was for the British Light-Heavyweight Title but Magee has returned to his natural super-middleweight division and feels better for it.
The former IBO champion hopes to end the 15-fight unbeaten record of McGuire (Glenrothes, Scotland) on the Hennessy Sports show that is being shown live on ITV4 at 8.40pm.
Froch (Nottingham, England) beat Jean Pascal (Quebec, Canada) for the vacant WBC world title on Saturday and Magee is confident he will follow ‘The Cobra’ to world title level.
First Magee must beat McGuire and set up a possible shot at the European title next year.
“It’s hard to argue against Carl Froch being the best super-middleweight in the world after Saturday’s performance, so I’ve taken confidence from the fact that I pushed him close to the wire when we fought,” said Magee.
“Carl stopped me in the 11th round but two judges had me just one point behind at that stage and that was the first time I had been knocked out in my career.
“Carl is superb and won the world title last weekend and I believe I can win titles beyond domestic level.
“I should have got the decision in Germany when I fought Vitali Tsypko and he’s waiting for a world title shot now.
“I’m concentrating full on this fight but I’m also looking ahead to where I want to go, which is where Carl Froch is.
“I’ve had to come down a level to get fights and I even had an attempt at the light-heavyweight title, but I was never happy at that weight. I didn’t feel myself in that fight, even though it was a controversial decision.
“McGuire is going to be ready for the fight of his life so I’ve got to be on top of my game to get myself up there for bigger things which I believe I’m capable of.”
“I think Brian looked really good in his last fight; he looked in excellent condition and looked sharp. I was at ringside when he fought for the European title a couple years ago in Germany and I thought he clearly won the fight and he should have been crowned European Champion that night,” said promoter Mick Hennessy.
“If he can win the British title this Saturday, then he’s got a great chance of fighting for the European title next year.”
Also on the bill, Darren Barker (Barnet, England) defends his Commonwealth Middleweight Title against Jason McKay (Banbridge, Northern Ireland).
The 1 Night, 2 Titles official weigh in will be held at the Baytree Shopping Centre, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4BX on Friday 12th December at 1pm
Tickets are available from the Brentwood Centre Box Office on 01277 262616 or via the web www.brentwood-centre.co.uk
