Jaws of defeat beckon for champ

LISTENING to whispers from behind the closed doors of gyms has distinct benefits in the build-up to big fights.

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Being part of the fight-game community's conversations is invaluable when weighing up outcomes.

This Sunday's barnstormer between Stourbridge “Savage” Sam Eggington, a warrior who has been to the well more times than any other boxer, and Lee Cutler is a case in point. The pair meet on Boxxer's huge BP Pulse Live arena show, with the latter's WBC international light-middleweight belt on the line.

I'll admit to leaning towards the 29-year-old Bournemouth champ, who has lost only one of 16 and stopped seven. I toyed with the possibility he may be too fresh for Sam, still only 31 but with his 44-bout record studded with some of the most epic modern battles seen in British rings.

Then the conversations began. Eggington has looked scintillating, I was told. He is in outstanding condition. Cutler is about to swim in waters much deeper than he's known before - and they are shark-infested. He will be chewed up, a number of individuals assure me.

Respected trainer Malcolm Melvin's boxer Owen Cooper - a welter who also has a big fight on the horizon - recently sparred Eggington.

He reported: "Sam's in a very good place, he looks very hungry. You write Sam off at your peril - he keeps bouncing back. He looks really good and Cutler is in for a very hard fight. Listen, Sam can be guts and glory, but he's a decent fighter as well."

I have been swayed by the experts, I have revised my prophesy.

Eggington wins by stoppage in eight or nine rounds.