NEW YORK CITY, New York (CMC):
JAMAICAN INTERNATIONAL Boxing Federation (IBF) champion O'Neil Bell has labelled Jean-Marc Mormeck a bull, and declared that he will employ appropriate strategy to nullify the Frenchman's aggressive tactics when they clash for the undisputed world cruiserweight title this weekend.
Mormeck, holder of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight belts, is widely regarded as the world's best at 200 pounds, but Bell aims to be the "matador" that will outsmart the "bull" on Saturday at the famous Madison Square Garden.
"To me, I classify Mormeck as a bull (and) it's going to be a bull-matador event basically," Bell told reporters.
THE MATADOR
"He's the bull, I'm the matador. We've been working on stepping side to side. And if it comes down to it where we have got to go toe to toe, I'm able to do that because of my past history. But right now we're working to box, to be a boxer-puncher. I'm going to use his pressure against him. I'm going to use his momentum against him. That's the strategy right now," said Bell, who is originally from Montego Bay on Jamaica's north coast.
For Bell, the aim in this fight is also to gain full acceptance as a world-class boxer since his ascendancy to world champion status and reign in 2005 did not come with most polished performances.
He gained the vacant IBF belt in one of the most controversial decisions of the year when he won a unanimous decision over Canada's Dale Brown in May and followed that up with a tougher than expected title defence against Sebastian Rothmann.
The 30-year-old Bell beat Rothmann on an 11th round knockout in a fight in which he suffered a knockdown and was trailing (on points) in August.
A win against the outstanding 33-year-old Mormeck would not only make Bell the first undisputed cruiserweight champion since Evander Holyfield in 1988, it would also go a long way to dispel the criticisms of his recent performances.
He classifies this unification bout as a huge opportunity that can launch his career to new heights.
"It really is an honour to me to come this far and to be fighting for a unification in Madison Square Garden. It's overwhelming. But I can't let it get to my head. I've got to block that out and just focus on the fight," he said.
EXTREME HONOUR
"It's an extreme honour to be mentioned on the same page as Holyfield," added the Atlanta-based Bell, who has a ring record of 25 wins (23 knockouts) against one loss and one draw.
Mormeck, with a ring record of 31 wins (21 knockouts) against two defeats, has not fought since April when he retained his WBA title and captured the WBC belt with an impressive 12-round unanimous decision over Guyana's Wayne Braithwaite.
Bell's only blemish in his career was a fourth round knockout defeat against Mohamed Benguesmia in April 1998, while Mormeck suffered losses to Manuel Lee Ossie and Dominique Mansare in 1997, but has since racked up a 28-fight winning streak.
