Danny McIntosh is fighting fit for his British light-heavyweight title showdown with Tony Bellew at Liverpool's Echo Arena on Friday.
McIntosh says he is in prime shape for Bellew showdown
Danny McIntosh is fighting fit for his British light-heavyweight title showdown with Tony Bellew at Liverpool's Echo Arena on Friday.
The former European champion was forced to pull out of the original date a fortnight ago with a chest infection.
However, the Norwich pro insists he would still have been up for the fight and is in the best physical shape he has been in for a long time.
"It's been a week or two since I had my virus and I'm feeling much better now," said McIntosh. "Preparation has gone well and I'm feeling good for the fight night.
"I've been training loads and not just to come back during my recovery, I've been in the gym loads. I think that may have contributed to being ill because I do train relatively hard.
"The decision (to delay the fight) was nothing to do with me; that was my trainer Dominic Ingle's call. I would've fought. I'd fight anytime, anywhere.
"Obviously that's a silly thing to say, because I wouldn't be well to fight, but there's no pressure from my end whatsoever. If he thinks there's pressure from my end then he wrong."
Hungry
McIntosh has not fought since losing his European title to Eduard Gutknecht in Germany in May after claiming the belt four months earlier against Thierry Karl in France, and the 32-year-old says he is in a much better frame of mind for this challenge.
"I wasn't bothered when I lost my European title," said McIntosh. "I was going through a really bad stage in my life and I really wasn't bothered. One of my best mates had died.
"But my hunger has come back 10-fold and believe me, Tony had better watch out on the night because Danny Mac is not here for the taking at all.
"It's been a long time since my last fight and I can't wait to get into the Echo Arena. I've trained so hard for this fight, and I'm sure Tony has as well. I'm sure you're going to see two fighters 100 per cent up for it on the night. You'll see him try to take my head off to no avail, trust me.
"Losing doesn't enter my vocabulary when I'm in training like this. I'm a fighter; I don't go in the ring with the perception of loss and losing. I'm a winner, I'm a born winner. I've got a Superman mentality, I believe I can do anything.
"This fight is going to lead onto big, big things when I beat Tony better than Cleverly did. That was a very close fight; this fight is not going to be so close.
"My boxing game has gone through the roof. My fitness is always fairly good. But I feel like I'm a different person, for sure. I've fought a couple of fights at European level and I believe I'm on that level, easily. I wasn't 100 per cent in either of those fights at all.
"I know pundits haven't got me down as the favourite, but we will see on the night."
