Gavin Rees will be casting an eye north tomorrow when Amir Khan defends the WBA light-welterweight title against Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle. Only 21 months ago, Rees held that crown.
But instead of pay-per-view television and world-title belts, Rees throws his hat into the ring in the latest Prizefighter series today. Some might call it the Audley Harrison route to redemption, after the former Olympic champion won the previous incarnation in October.
The presence of a former world champion in Rees gives Prizefighter an added distinction. The one-night, eight-man elimination event began as something of a novelty, but has gone from strength to strength, as is shown by the venues it now fills. The ninth Prizefighter, at light-welterweight, takes place at Olympia in Kensington, West London. The previous two were held at ExCeL and Earls Court.
Victory, as Harrison found, can restore some momentum to a flagging career and that is what Rees is hoping for. He lost the WBA title to Andreas Kotelnik, who in turn lost it to Khan. But Rees believes that he just has not had the opportunity to get his career back on the rails.
“I have not been as busy as I would like, but that wasn’t my fault,” Rees said. “I was promoted by Frank Warren and he had a court case with Joe Calzaghe [his former stablemate and the son of his trainer, Enzo]. I didn’t want to be caught up in the middle of that, but I was. It was very frustrating.”
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Rees, 29, still trains at the Calzaghes’ gym in Cwmcarn and despite Joe’s retirement, he says that things have not changed too much.
“Enzo is still there working us hard and shouting like a madman,” Rees said. “There is a good bunch of lads and a really good atmosphere. I’ve trained really well for this and I had a nice warm-up fight, so I think I can beat anybody.”
This line-up is comfortably the best of all the Prizefighters. As well as Rees, there are three past European champions in Ted Bami, Rees’s first-round opponent, Colin Lynes and Jason Cook, as well as two former British champions in David Barnes and Young Mutley. Each bout is over three rounds, with the winner having to survive three bouts to lift the trophy.
“I think the three rounds could suit me,” Rees said. “I’m a flat-out type of fighter, so I tend to start quite fast.”
But if Rees is victorious, he will not be looking for the winner of tomorrow’s big bout. “If I was to win, I’d like a fight with someone like John Murray [the British lightweight champion],” Rees said. “I’ve always been a lightweight. I only won the title at light-welterweight because that’s where the opportunity came. But I’m too small for the weight, really.
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“I’ll be watching on Saturday, because it’s a big fight. But I don’t want the winner.”