By Ron Lewis
Luke Campbell says he is relaxed ahead of the biggest night of his career. The 31-year-old former Olympic champion has a huge task when he faces Vasiliy Lomachenko for the WBA, WBA and WBO lightweight titles in London on Saturday night, but he says he is taking things in his stride.
“This is where every boxer wants to be,” Campbell said. “They want to be headlining pay-per-view events at a sold out O2 Arena. It is amazing.
“I’m happy to be a part of that but I’m not just happy to be a part of it. I’m not here just for that, I’m here to win. I’m calm, relaxed and excited.”
Saturday night’s fight is just across the River Thames from ExCeL, the exhibition centre where Campbell and Lomachenko both won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games. Lomachenko’s rise through the professional ranks has been astonishing, it has been tougher for Campbell. He didn’t get the red-carpet treatment of his fellow British gold-medallist and one-time flatmate Anthony Joshua.
Many of his biggest fights ended up on Joshua’s undercards, while when he did get his chance to box for a world title, instead of getting it on home soil in Hull, as he had always dreamed of, he had to go to California to face Jorge Linares. Not that Campbell feels sorry for himself.
“Listen, it’s a business,” he said. “I don’t feel under-appreciated or forgotten or anything like that. I know what I’m in. I don’t urge for love, I want to entertain as much as I can.
“I’ve always been on the verge. I’ve been chief support a lot, on a lot of big cards and always on the verge of it. Finally I get to be the main event. I mean I’ve been the main event a lot but not on shows like this. Having to go to America for a world-title shot is never ideal but I’m very happy I can put this show on for the fans and entertain.”
Things have never been easy for Campbell. He lost his first two amateur bouts and, after he became the first British boxer in nearly half a century to win a European amateur gold medal in 2008, he soon found himself pushed to the fringes of the Great Britain squad and was so disillusioned that he considered giving up the sport.
Campbell is no quitter, though. After turning professional, he tried to continue training alongside the GB squad, but was starved of attention and switched his training base to the United States, training with Jorge Rubio in Florida. He went through with his fight with Linares, despite his father, Bernard, dying two weeks before. He believes he should have won the decision, but he arrived home in Hull with no real idea of whether he would get another chance.
“In the same week I was moving into a new house, I was burying my Dad and it was my 30th birthday,” he said.
“I know my Dad is there in spirit, I know that. That will never change. This is a massive fight and I know it’s a fight my dad would 100 percent be backing me in.
“Lomachenko has been built up to a superstar because of his results, he is a three-weight world champion, he deserves it because he has achieved what he has achieved. Timing is everything in life, I haven’t been a three-weight world champion yet but one day you will be bigging me up as a superstar.
“I won’t be 100 percent content until I achieve my dream and that is winning a world title.”
