Jack Cullen says he will not waste his big opportunity against former world title challenger Avni Yildirim at Matchroom’s inaugural Fight Camp weekend in Brentwood next Saturday (July 31).
The ‘Little Lever Meat Cleaver’ rose from an early knockdown to upset Scottish prospect John Docherty on the cards last November and feels he enters the fight as the favourite despite Yildirim’s experience at a much higher level.
The Turkish fighter was last seen losing in three rounds to Canelo Alvarez in February, but hasn’t won a fight since September 2018. The bookies certainly see more value in Cullen’s form with Betfred pegging him as the 8/13 favourite with Yildirim (21-3, 12 KOs) out at 7/5.
“I don’t feel like I’m an underdog in this one. If anything I’m the favourite! He has been in with the best. You’ll see on fight night that I should be up there as well,” said super-middleweight Cullen (19-2-1, 9 KOs). “You can’t really go off Canelo, he’s a superstar isn’t he? Whoever he fights he beats! All I can take away from it is Yildirim is a tough and strong lad.
“He comes for a fight. It can only be an exciting scrap. Everyone knows I enjoy getting involved in a fight. He enjoys a fight, too. No matter what time it is in the ring, whatever round it is, we’re going to clash. It’s going to be a brilliant fight for the crowd and for those watching on DAZN.
“At the end of the day, he’s a fighting man and he doesn’t want to get beat. Anybody that gets into the ring doesn’t want to get beat. He’s going to give it his all and I’m going to give it my all. You don’t look past anybody, and Yildirim shouldn’t be looking past me. We’ll prove to everyone how good I am. You’ll see my hand getting raised at the end of the night.
“This is going to be a dream come true for me hopefully. You never know, anything could happen after this. It’s entirely up to Matchroom and DAZN. Get past Yildirim and it puts me right up there. I think he’s ranked at No: 21 or 22 in the world. There’s no reason not to be putting me up there.”
Main image: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.