I’m at the top of my game
Gary’s vow as he gets ready to rumble with Tellez
Craig Ritchie
Barrhead boxer Gary Rae insists he is in the best shape of his life ahead of his return to the SSE Hydro to face Edwin Tellez.
The undefeated super bantamweight is gearing up for a return to the grandest stage of them all as part of the undercard of Josh Taylor’s latest fight, the Edinburgh fighter paired with Viktor Postal in next month’s WBC super lightweight world title eliminator.
Rae is striving to take his professional record to 8- 0 following his recent win over Hungarian Zoltan Horvath in front of a packed-out crowd in Glasgow.
And he insists that now is the time to ramp his bid to earn a title fight before the turn of the year.
He told Express Sport: “This is my chance now to show everyone I have what it takes.
“I have made no bones about the fact that I really want to challenge for belts this year and performing to the best of my ability on shows like this will only help that.
“I feel really, really good and everything is going exactly as planned. We are exactly on track both inside and outside of the ring, and the fact that I am now regularly having fights lined-up can only help me after a couple of injuries last year.
“My coaches are pleased with the progress that I have been making and the fact that I am being booked on these bills goes to show that I must be doing something right.
“I don’t really know too much about the boy I’ll be facing but he has been on a couple of the same shows as me and I am led to believe that he is more than capable of landing some big shots.
“I never got the chance to see him earlier in the year because my fight had just finished and I was back getting some stitches. But he is a bit different to my previous opponents.
“I feel brilliant. And I believe that if I perform like I know I can then I will the fight.”
Rae revealed that he is now right in the thick of preparations for the fight on Saturday, June 23, as he looks to go into the bout in the best shape possible.
And although he is juggling his training with his full-time job as a painter and decorator, Rae insists he loves the pre-fight build up.
He added: “I do it all for the love of boxing and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I have had to work hard to get to where I am right now and I am going to continue doing that until I get even more rewards.
“I might be training every single day but you have got to do what you have got to do.
“I don’t have the luxury of being able to forget about work and just focus on training.
“I need to spend three hours prepping my meals, making sure I eat at the right times, going to work then training – but it is the only way I have known and is what I love.”
I do it all for the love of boxing and I wouldn’t have it any other way