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Carl Baker has vowed to make Mike Tyson eat his words after ‘Iron Mike’ ridiculed him live on television.
Tyson performed the draw for next Friday’s Prizefighter Heavyweights III and dismissed Baker as having no chance after he was paired with Danny Williams.
Baker, 27, believes Tyson’s words will motivate him towards the biggest victory in his career over Williams, the current British Champion.
“When I heard Tyson say that my first reaction was he doesn’t know me so how could he say that?” said Baker, who has won eight of 11 professional contests.
“Tyson has never seen me box but, after all, Danny beat him, so what else could Tyson say? I might offer Tyson out after I’ve beat Danny!
“I’m in a win-win situation as everyone expects me to lose – including my friends, family and people I’ve trained with.
“But if I beat Danny then everything changes and I’ve ruined the dream final of Williams v Audley Harrison. All I can do is gain from this and I have nothing to lose.
“Danny is the British Champion and, apart from David Haye, the best British heavyweight that we’ve got.
“But I’m going to go in there, do what I normally do and it should be enough to win. We have gameplan after gameplan for this fight and it’s only three rounds so anything could happen.
“I’m confident I can beat Danny. If you don’t think you can win a fight then you have lost it before you’ve even started.”
Prizefighter, the eight-man, one night-tournament, has captured fight fans’ imagination and is expected to be a 5,000 sell out at London’s Excel Arena on Friday.
Baker, a former British Masters Champion, comes into the competition as a late replacement for Michael Holden and believes he has a lot to prove.
“My friends and family have asked me why I’m going in this,” added Baker, who is known as ‘The Fridge’.
“When I told them I was in Prizefighter and said the people in it, they said ‘you can’t win that’ so I won’t be talking to them up to the fight.
“I’m quite ignorant so I don’t listen to them and just laugh it off. When they say that stuff I tell them to go and stick a grand on me and see how much they get out of it when I win.”
Prizefighter tickets are going fast but some are still available at £40 or £80 from See Tickets on 0871 220 0260, www.seetickets.com or from Matchroom Sport on 01277 359900.
The quarter-final draw is: 1. Scott Gammer (Pembroke Dock, Wales) v Coleman Barrett (Galway, Ireland), 2. Danny Williams (Brixton) v Carl Baker (Sheffield), 3. Audley Harrison (London / California) v Scott Belshaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), 4. Neil Perkins (Birmingham) v Danny Hughes (Sunderland).
