Tuesday 5 June 2018 13:23, UK
Isaac Chamberlain expects old foe Lawrence Okolie to "come out the blocks fast" and stop Luke Watkins to become Commonwealth cruiserweight champion.
The Brixton fighter lost his 'British Beef' February battle with Okolie, who is looking to win a major domestic title in only his ninth professional fight, at JD NXTGEN on Wednesday night, live on Sky Sports.
Chamberlain is back in training after fracturing his knee in the opening round against 'The Sauce' and although he is "not bothered" who wins the York Hall title fight, is expecting Watkins to lose.
"I can probably see Okolie stopping him, just because of his awkwardness and range," he told Sky Sports.
"From what I've seen from Luke Watkins, he is a late starter and we know Okolie comes out of the blocks fast. If it goes that way, I see Okolie finishing in the first six rounds.
"But, if that doesn't happen, it will turn into an ugly slug. If Okolie doesn't take him out, he will become scrappy and so will the fight.
"I don't really care who wins, to be honest. It would be good if Watkins does beat him, then I can beat Watkins, that would be crazy."
Chamberlain turned down the chance to be on the York Hall undercard, but is working to get back to full fitness alongside new coach, the renowned Carlie Carew.
The fall-out with uncle Ted Bami left 'Chambo' searching for a new man to work with and even travelled out to Gambia to meet up with Carew at the start of April.
"He trained Mark Prince among others and was under the tutelage of Eddie Futch," he said.
"He went to America then Gambia, so I tracked him down. I got his number from Mark Prince, and he told me he was out there, working on charity and orphanages out in Gambia.
"He didn't really want to get back into coaching again, so I flew out to see him. I wanted to spend some time with him, get us both on the same page and of course, I was doing some charity work, helping them as well.
"My knee is OK but I don't want to take any risks on something like that. It needs to be done slowly because I don't want to go backwards, I am looking forward. I know the 100 per cent Isaac Chamberlain beats all of them, it's just up to me to make sure I can set this up."
Watch Lawrence Okolie against Luke Watkins, along with a packed JD NXTGEN bill featuring Reece Bellotti, Ted Cheeseman, Daniyar Yeleussinov and more at York Hall on Wednesday from 7pm on Sky Sports Action.
