Eggington v Cutler - I’ve been swayed by the trade whispers

Sam Eggington…ready to put another prospect to the sword

LISTENING to whispers from behind the closed doors of gyms has distinct benefits in the build-up to big fights.

Being part of the fight game community’s conversations is invaluable when weighing-up outcomes.

Next Sunday’s barnstormer between Stourbridge “Savage” Sam Eggington, a warrior who has been to the well more times than any other boxer, and Lee Cutler is a case in point. The pair meet on Boxxer’s huge BP Pulse Live arena show, with Cutler’s WBC international light-middleweight belt on the line.

I’ll admit to leaning towards the 29-year-old Bournemouth champ who has lost only one of 16 and stopped seven. I toyed with the possibility he may be too fresh for Sam, still only 31 but with his 44 bout record studded with some of the most epic modern battles seen in British rings.

Then the conversations began. Eggington has looked scintillating in the gym, I was told. He is in outstanding condition. Cutler is about to swim in waters much deeper than he’s known before – and they are shark infested.

He will be chewed up, a number of individuals have assured me.

Respected trainer Malcolm Melvin’s boxer Owen Cooper – a welter who also has a big fight on the horizon - recently sparred Eggington.

He reported: “Sam’s in a very good place, he looks very hungry. You write Sam off at your peril – he keeps bouncing back. He looks really good and Cutler is in for a very hard fight. Listen, Sam can be guts and glory, but he’s a decent fighter as well.”

I’ve been swayed by the experts, I’ve revised my prophesy.

Eggington wins by stoppage in eight or nine rounds.

The fact I entertained a Cutler victory will no doubt be seized upon by Sam’s manager Jon Pegg as further proof the former British, European and IBO world champ has been chronically undervalued by the fight public. He’s also been wrongly labelled as a face-first slugger, nothing else.

“Sam is the Midlands’ most underrated boxer ever,” Pegg insisted yesterday. “He has been beating his personal bests – you’re not supposed to do that 13 years in (to your career). He feels really, really good, his weight has been good for weeks.

“Sam is just different and I don’t think I’ll have anyone like him again, he’s just a natural warrior. He could slot into any (boxing) era, he’s a complete, natural fighter.”

 The Eggington story has encountered bumps in the road and, in recent years, has featured a familiar media soundtrack.

He’s had too many wars, writers declare. He takes too many, he’s not what he was, he should call it a day…

Pegg and Eggington are at a stage in their relationship where proving the naysayers wrong has become a hobby.

“I actually enjoy sitting them down and listing things,” Pegg said.

“Marvin Hagler took as much punishment as Sam in every fight. Did Sugar Ray Leonard have too many wars? The greats had fire-fight after fire-fight – Sam is having old school fights in an era when people are wrapped in cotton wool.

“He has been dropped once in 44 fights, Frankie Gavin – a ‘defensive maestro’ – was down eight times.”

Cutler has bitten off more than he can chew, Pegg believes. And he hasn’t ruled out a repeat of the carnage Eggington created against Southampton’s Joe Pigford.

Joe had won all 20 contests – a staggering 19 by stoppage – before being mauled by the Eastside gym assassin. He simply wasn’t prepared for what Eggington brings.

“I can see a situation like Pigford,” Pegg added. “Remember, Cutler was Number Two to Pigford on the South Coast.

“Cutler is solid, strong and has a good team – Sam’s seen all that before. But Sam will present Cutler with things he hasn’t seen before.”