Ham ready to go for British crown
Glaswegian, straight back in to camp, will ‘batter’ McCullagh
JOE HAM improved his winning record to 14-0 last weekend with his points win over Edwin Tellez in Glasgow and he is now ready to take the step up to the next level.
The Glaswegian is due to fight Northern Irishman Tyrone McCullagh sometime be- fore the end of June in a British title eliminator, with the venue being announced earlier this week. And this is, says the 26-year-old, exactly the progression he needs in his career.
“This is massive for me,” he said. “It’s great that this fight is happening.
“I’m feeling good and I’m confident that I’ll batter him.
“A British title is one of the most prestigious titles out there and this is a step towards it.
“If I win this, I reckon I’d get a shot at a British title towards the end of the year.
“So it’s a case of winning this one and then moving onto a British title.”
Ham was impressive in his victory over Tellez in Glasgow’s Hydro Arena 12 days ago and while the super-bantamweight expected nothing less than a victory, he admits he was pleased with the manner of his win.
Ham had only a week off following his Glasgow victory and was back in camp on Monday to begin his preparation for the McCullagh fight.
He will spend the next few weeks training in Glasgow before heading over to the lauded Wild Card Boxing Gym in Los Angeles, which is run by re- nowned trainer Freddie Roach.
THIS will be the third consecutive year that Ham and a few of his fellow fighters have travelled across the Atlantic and the Gorbals man is confident that it is exactly what he needs to get himself in the best shape possible for his British eliminator fight.
“I started back training earlier this week so my camp will be about eight to 10 weeks so I’ll be in great shape,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Wild Card - it’s one of the best gyms in the world and you’re mixing with some of the best talent so it’s a great place to be.
“And McCullagh is a southpaw so I’ll be going up against a lot of them to make sure I’m well used to fighting south paws by June.”
Ham may have a relatively limited professional career to date but he has made the transition seemingly effortlessly. To date, he has fought on the undercards of Ricky Burns and Josh Taylor but his ambition is to be headlining those shows himself one day.
And that day, he believes, is not too far away.
“Everybody always said that my style suited the pros more than the amateurs,” he said.
“The pro game is more technical, it’s not as much of a rush and I like that.
“And I know people like to watch me - I like to hurt people and as bad as that sounds, that’s what people want to see.
“I’ve been presented with my opportunity. It’s sink or swim, so it’s time for me to go.”