BUSY NEWS DAY
Olympic gold medallist also joins forces with a new trainer in Shane Mcguigan, writes John Dennen
Campbell gets a new trainer, as well as a chance of revenge against an old foe
LUKE CAMPBELL has got the fight he craves. He will rematch Yvan Mendy in a final eliminator for the WBC lightweight world title on the September 22 undercard of Anthony Joshua-Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium.
Mendy and Campbell have history. In 2015 Luke suffered a shock defeat to the Frenchman. The Olympic gold medallist is now determined to settle the score. “I can’t wait to go in there and put a good performance on,” Campbell said. “He earned his position, so have I.”
“I was sad that I let that happen myself. I was sad that I let people see a very weak version of me that night. I shouldn’t have got in there,” he adds. “I’d love to re-write that wrong and scrub him off my record and move forward and be in the number-one position with the WBC as well.”
Campbell did rebuild from that loss and went on to challenge Jorge Linares, going the distance with him in a world title clash last year.
This rematch will also be Campbell’s first fight with new trainer Shane Mcguigan. “I’ve changed since then [the first Mendy fight],” Luke said. “Shane will look at the fight and say what worked for him, what I was doing wrong, what success I had in that fight, where it was. He’ll look at that type of thing.
“He’s already on it. I never had that. I never had anyone looking at fights for me before, never in my whole career. Two fights ago I was still making weight like an amateur and treating it like that. It’s crazy.”
But Mendy has a warning for him. “I’m within touching distance of landing a shot at the WBC world title and Luke Campbell is standing in my way,” the Frenchman said. “I’m willing to fight anyone to get my hands on that green belt – I beat him before and I will do it again. This time he will not hear the final bell.
“I knew that Eddie Hearn would do his best to make this rematch happen and I’ll be fully prepared on September 22. Seven fights and two and a half years later, it’s time to confirm that I deserve the chance to fight for the WBC title.”
Campbell however believes Mcguigan can give him the edge he needs to reach the summit of the sport. “I wasn’t necessarily looking for a new coach, but I made a connection with Shane. I had a session with him and, from that one session I had, I thought, ‘I’ve needed this; I want this.’ And a couple more sessions I thought, ‘This is definitely what I need’. Shane’s making additions to my style, adding to my attributes and this was what I needed. Every single box is ticked, and I finally feel only now that I’ve got a team around me, and I’m loving what I do, and we’re working hard,” Luke said. “I’m young and fresh with a big ball of fire burning in my stomach to achieve my goals.”
Mcguigan noted, “He’s got unbelievable attributes that he hasn’t maximised. He can really punch, naturally heavy-handed, got good evasive skills.”
But there are areas he wants Campbell to work on. “Just be comfortable on the inside. He’s never going to be a pressure fighter but just feel a little bit more comfortable in there and not burn a lot of energy up. That just comes with the right sparring, conditioning the right sparring, making sure he’s not always fighting for space,” Shane said. “Putting conditions on the sparring sessions that they’re building on every round.”
He also believes that Campbell needs to bulk up a touch so that he comes into the ring heavier. “I don’t feel like he’s gone into a lot of fights with the right gameplans. He’s been trained and been just trying to improve himself and not really thinking about what the opponent is [doing], just thinking, ‘If I maximise myself, then I’m going to win.’ But that’s not always the case,” he added. “Luke’s still full of confidence. He believes he got the tactics wrong against Linares, he was forcing the fight.
“People will start taking note of him now.”