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Former undisputed cruiserweight champion O’Neil Bell still hasn’t let March 17th go. On that day in France, hometown hero Jean-Marc Mormeck turned a fight into a track meet in the final four rounds of his championship rematch with “The Supernova’ and heisted the WBA and WBC title belts via a controversial 12 round decision.
Now Bell is back, and he vows to never let the judges interfere in his career again.
“It was disgraceful what the judges did to me in France on March 17th, and even more disgraceful that Mormeck chooses to call himself a champion after running from me for the last four rounds. From here on out, my opponents, including Mormeck, will never hear the final bell.”
On August 8th, Bell (26-2-1, 24 KOs) begins on his road back to the title when he returns to the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena in Hollywood, Florida to headline ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights against former world title challenger Louis “The Lion” Azille (19-3-2, 15 KOs).
Azille, fresh off a win over highly regarded Michael Simms in February, has been in with the best of the best at cruiserweight over the course of an 11-year pro career, and he is best remembered for giving Wayne Braithwaite one of his toughest fights in a challenge for the WBC cruiserweight title in 2004. But on August 8th , the Jamaican-born Bell is determined to make a statement against Azille, and send a message to Mormeck, who he knocked out in ten rounds in their first fight in January of 2006.
“Every fighter I meet, when that bell rings, I will be picturing Mormeck there in front of me,” said Bell. “I will not stop knocking people out until we settle our score. I just hope he is more courageous in accepting a third fight than he was in running away from me in our second one.”
Also scheduled for action on August 8th will be highly-touted middleweight prospect “Mean” Joe Greene (15-0, 11 KOs) and former world champion Raul “El Diamante’ Marquez (39-3, 28 KOs). Opponents for both fighters will be announced shortly.
The ESPN2 Friday Night Fights telecast begins at 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Tickets, priced at $150, $100, $50 and $25, go on sale on this Friday, June 29th, and may be purchased at all TicketMaster Outlets or by visiting the Hard Rock Live Arena Box Office.
