O'Neil Bell from Montego Bay, St. James celebrates after knocking out Jean-Marc Mormeck of France in the 10th round of their cruiserweight unification bout at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. - REUTERS
CALGARY, Alberta (CMC):
CANADIAN CRUISERWeight boxer Dale Brown has hit back at comments by Jamaica's new undisputed world champion O'Neil Bell suggesting that the rugged Calgary-based contender was shying away from a rematch.
Bell, originally of the Jamaican north coast city of Montego Bay, scored the biggest win of his career Saturday night when he defeated the highly respected Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck in New York to add the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight belts to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) crown he already held.
After his fight with Mormeck, Bell was quoted as saying Brown is an undeserving challenger who has done little since his defeat (to Bell) last May.
BROWN ENRAGED
The 31-year-old Bell went on to imply that it was Brown who had turned down a chance for a rematch last year and that if he had to face Brown again, he would enjoy ending the Canadian's career, just to prove a point.
But Brown is enraged by the comments and insists that he has been campaigning for a rematch ever since their May meeting.
"I was never offered a rematch. People know if I was offered a rematch it would have happened," Brown told reporters.
The Canadian cruiserweight 200-pound king believes Bell defeating Mormeck was the best scenario he could have hoped for in his quest for another title shot.
TREMENDOUS PRESSURE
Bell, the only English-speaking Caribbean boxer currently holding a world title, has received tremendous pressure from both the media and Brown to give Brown the rematch.
"Bell should stand up and give me the rematch I deserve", said the 34-year-old Brown.
"I will give credit where credit is due, Bell fought a very tough fight but Mormeck looked very tired early in the fifth and never seemed to recover. Bell took some big shots and fought very hard," Brown said.
With his win over Mormeck, Bell improved his record to 26 wins (24 knockouts) against one loss and one draw.
Brown's log reads 35 wins (22 knockouts) against four losses and one draw, and his next appearance is scheduled to be a March 23 IBF title eliminator against Felix Cora in Florida.
