Cranbourne boxers Daniel ‘Porky’ Lovett (above) and Shane ‘The Animal’ Brock (right) are set to shake up Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.By Marc McGowan
THE hard yards have been done, the fighting weights have almost been made and the time to rumble is just days away.
Cranbourne boxing duo Daniel ‘Porky’ Lovett and Shane ‘The Animal’ Brock are the headline acts on the seven-fight card at Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
Lovett, 24, (14 wins, 3 losses, 0 draws, 8 KOs) will take on 33-year-old Vanuatuan heavy hitter Kali ‘The Malekula Kid’ Jacobus (10-2-0-7) over 10 rounds for the World Boxing Federation Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight Title.
The bout almost did not happen for the Cranbourne champion, with opponent after opponent pulling out before his original combatant Jacobus came to terms with him.
“My preparation has been awesome, my weight is good, my training is good and I just want to get in there and get it over with,” Lovett said.
“I take each fight as it comes and that is one of my best aspects – I can adapt to most conditions.
“If they want to brawl, I can brawl; if they want to box, I can box as well.”
Lovett’s trainer Jim Slatter is confident his charge can beat Jacobus before having a crack at Australian Light Heavyweight Title champion Tim Bell in February.
A rematch with Nader Hamdan is also likely in April.
“Tim Bell holds the Australian title and we’ve challenged him,” Slatter said.
“Porky will win – I’ll tell you that right now. Porky is a classier boxer and a harder puncher.
“If he can’t get over Nader there is not much use in him going overseas or anything like that because you have got to beat the best in Australia before you venture out.”
Hamdan beat Lovett in a majority decision over 12 rounds at Dandenong Basketball Stadium in February.
The lead-up to Saturday night has been much smoother for 28-year-old Brock (7-2-1-5), who will battle 26-year-old Queenslander Matt Meredith (3-4-1-1) for the vacant Australian Flyweight Title.
“I’ve had a few hiccups, as in colds and stuff like that, but nothing drastic,” Brock said.
“I haven’t really paid too much attention to what Matt’s doing. I’ve seen him fight once before.
“Someone I know has a DVD of him and I might watch that this week, but I’ll mainly just be concentrating on what I’ll do.”
Brock is clear on one thing, however – just how much it would mean to him if he was to claim the Australian Flyweight Title.
“It’s pretty much everything I’ve strived towards for my whole life and I’ve pretty much been in the gym since 11,” he said.
Brock’s trainer Steve Kerr believes if his protege wins the Australian Flyweight Title it would be a just reward.
“He’s a great kid to train … he’ll joke and muck around in the early part, but as his fights get closer he focuses, but he never changes really or doesn’t show it in front of me anyway,” Kerr said.
“He is switched on the whole time and he deserves the Australian title.”
Beyond the Meredith slugfest, Brock has locked in a match-up with African Commonwealth Games representative Omari Kimwrea in Adelaide on 15 December.
But for now the local stars’ concentration is firmly on what lies ahead on Saturday.
Tickets can be purchased by contacting Dandenong Basketball Stadium on 9794 7192.
Doors open at 6.30pm and the first fight will start no later than 7.30pm, with Lovett and Brock the last bouts on the card.
