Jason Welborn says he’s the man to stop Marcus Morrison’s rise in the Middleweight division as they clash at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night, live on Sky Sports.
Welborn challenges Morrison for his WBC International title but for the Midlands man, there’s more than that on the line.
The 30 year old wants to get more outings on Matchroom shows having put on a great performance against Matthew Macklin on a recent Birmingham bill, and Welborn believes he may know too much for the unbeaten 24 year old, who is yet to go the ten-round distance that Welborn has done six times.
“No disrespect to Marcus, but he is somewhere I want to be,” said Welborn. “He has the support of Eddie Hearn and he is getting on these big bills. I am here now and I am coming to win. I am coming for him and I will go for it tonight. He will need to be switched on and I want him to come to me and give it what he has got.
“If he thinks he is the next up and coming he has got to get me out of the way and I am not going to let him.
“He is a stylish boxer but I know what I have to do to beat him and I will use my experience. In the last year I have been up and down so they probably think they have caught me at the right time but mentally everything is there now.
“I have MTK managing me so I am not doing things on my own, I have a team and sponsorship behind me. I have had a good eight-week camp where I have got stuck into my training.
“I have loads left in the tank. The times when I have had my shots have been last-minute notice and it has been hard. This time I have had a good eight-week camp like I should have been doing when I have had opportunities in the past.
“There is plenty left in me but I need to establish myself at this level. I can’t afford to be dropping back down to little shows now. After the Macklin fight I wanted to stay at that level and you would have seen the best of me but now is perfect timing. I have to prove myself at this weight.
“I am a strong Light-Middleweight so when I got the call for this fight at Middleweight I knew I would be strong there too. I just wanted to get into camp, enjoy it and get stuck in again.”
Welborn’s clash with Morrison is part of a huge night of action in Manchester as Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla meet in a World Lightweight unification rematch following their epic first encounter in September.
Martin J Ward defends his British Super-Featherweight title against Maxi Hughes in their third meeting, Brian Rose and Jack Arnfield meet in the ‘Battle of Blackpool’ at Middleweight, Irish sensation Katie Taylor fights for the fourth time in the paid ranks, while his Joe Gallagher gym-mate Hosea Burton looks to bounce back into title contention from his epic battle with Frank Buglioni.
Amateur standouts Lawrence Okolie and Sean McGoldrick make their pro debuts while there’s also action for Tomi Tatham, Ben Sheedy and Nathan Wheatley.
Tickets are on sale priced at £40, £60, £80, £100 and £150 and available from www.manchesterarena.com or by calling 0844 847 8000. VIPs tickets are exclusively available through www.matchroomboxing.com priced at £250.
Face value tickets for March 25 will also be available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ . StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua.
