By Mark Vester
Brian Magee (28-3, 19KOs) tells the Belfast Telegraph that working with former champion Mikkel Kessler has given him a new inspiration to turn his career around and succeed in the super middleweight division. Magee was used by Kessler to prepare for the Nov. 3 unification bout with Joe Calzaghe. Working so close with Kessler and watching the work ethic of the Danish fighter, Magee began to focus on getting his career back on track.
"Sparring with Kessler for three weeks before he fought Calzaghe was fantastic. I couldn't have been treated any better and the sparring was top class, as you would expect," Magee said. "We did eight rounds every day, four days a week for the three weeks and having been in with him I actually fancied him to beat Calzaghe, but credit to Calzaghe he was very smart in the fight and deserved it."
After a sluggish performance in his August draw with Tony Oakey, he plans to make a statement when facing Francis Cheka (13-3, 8KOs) at Kings Hall in Belfast, Ireland. The bout serves as the co-feature to Wayne McCullough coming out of retirement to challenge Euro super bantamweight champ Kiko Martinez.
"Kessler is a very strong super-middle and he trains very, very hard. I enjoyed being in the gym and working out with him and I felt that after that, being in with one of the best in the world, the time was right to step down to super-middle," Magee said. "Although I was boxing quite well at light-heavy I just thought that I would have more advantages at super-middle and more spark."
"Because I had moved up to light-heavy I was taking my diet and my whole preparation more seriously but instead of putting on weight, I was staying around the same and I think it was because I was being very careful about what I was putting into my body. So now I feel that if I stick to what I've been doing I'll make the super-middle limit and be strong at the weight and I'm really looking forward to going back to the King's Hall."
Magee expects Carl Froch to vacate the British super middleweight title, and plans to challenge for the title once that happens.
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