Lee Meager: I will retire Jon Thaxton

Hennessy Sports promoted Lee Meager will feature in a Heavyweight showdown for his British Lightweight Title when he meets Jon Thaxton at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre on December 8th live on Sky Sports 1.

After claiming a championship, many fighters are rewarded with an easy first defence, but Lee Meager has always been prepared to do things the hard way if need be.

He jumps straight in against his mandatory contender after winning the title in May with a sensational stoppage of the previously undefeated Dave Stewart, in what has been nominated as one of the fights of the year.

Meager – Thaxton will be Hennessy Sports second grudge match in as many weeks.

It follows hot on the heels of Carl’s Froch’s mandatory defence of his British super middleweight title against Tony Dodson at the Nottingham Arena on November 24th.

Froch and Dodson have widely been regarded as the biggest rivals in British Boxing over the last 18 months, but this pair are starting to run them close.

“I’m going to put Thaxton into retirement,” said Meager, from Salford, but now based in London under Hennessy Sports team trainer Robert McCracken.

“He’s got no respect for me with some of the stuff he’s been talking, but they have picked on the wrong fella. He’s going to be outclassed.

“This fight is not going to be as hard for me as everyone thinks. Some people have never given me a chance, they haven’t got a clue, but what I showed against Dave Stewart when I won the title was just the tip of the iceberg.

“There are still a million more things I can do to improve. Every level I step up, the better fighter I will become. People will start realising what I am all about now.”

Meager – an all-action box fighter who makes every fight exciting – has every right to feel that he is underrated.

In 22 fights he has never shirked a challenge and bitten down on his gum shield to overcome the likes of Martin Watson and Charlie Shepherd to earn his opportunities.

The only defeat he has suffered wasn’t a defeat. In November 2004 he dominated English champion Danny Hunt over the distance, only to be on the wrong side of a decision that amazed everybody at ringside, even though he was boxing out of the away corner.

Backed by Hennessy Sports, he rebuilt in typical Meager fashion to become British champion. Having reached this position, he feels that he is now on the verge of receiving the recognition he deserves.

“I have always been the quiet one,” admits the 28-year-old. “I have gone about things in my own way, so it’s not surprising that I haven’t been given the respect I should have been for being a British champion, unbeaten in 22 fights.

“But now I’m topping the bill on Sky I have the chance to show everyone what I can do. There’s a lot more to come from me. I think I am the best lightweight in Europe. I am a different class to Graham Earl and I don’t rate Yuri Romanov or Juan Melero like others seem to.

“Me versus Thaxton is about me proving again that I am the best in Britain. I am looking at this fight as an opportunity to show people what I can do.

I know he is an experienced Championship fighter, but I am very, very confident. I have always wanted to fight him.

“I know what I am capable of and I know what he is capable of. I’m going to do a job on him.”

Hennessy Sports’ “Heavyweight Showdown for the British Lightweight Title’ takes place at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre on December 8th. Tickets, priced £35 and £75, are available now through Ticketmaster on 0870 060 1795. For more information please visit www.HennessySports.com.