Devine thrilled to be in the spotlight

Luton boxer Michael Devine is confident he belongs on the big stage when he steps out at the O2 Arena to fight Tommy Martin this evening.
Michael DevineMichael Devine
Michael Devine

The bout will be televised live on Sky as part on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s Commonwealth title clash with Gary Cornish this evening as Devine said: “That’s where I belong and I’ll thrive on the crowd, it is like a dream come true.

I’ve always wanted to be on the big stage with Sky, and I always said I wanted to box at the 02 in front of 15, 20,000 people and those are the sort of bills that get me going.

“Anthony Joshua is the future king of the heavyweight division and an Olympic gold medalist so it’s a honour to fight on the undercard.

“It just made sense to box on a big card and get a big opportunity.”

On his unbeaten opponent, the Lutonian, who has 13 victories, three defeats and one draw from 17 bouts, continued: “He’s got a good record, I respect him, but this is a fight I’m 100 per cent confident in.

“I’m not taking him lightly, but he’s still got to learn and mature into a man. He’ll see how physical I am and they’ll think I’m going to go all guns blazing, but they’re going to see I can box so it will just be a matter of time until I land the big bomb.

“I’m good at getting people out of there, so I’ll get him out of there when I can.”

Meanwhile, Devine feels he is in the perfect condition, something he admitted hadn’t been the case for his defeat to Adam Dingsdale earlier in the year.

He added: “Because I’m with my new trainer Rod Julian, I’m hungry again and the fresh start is absolutely working wonders.

“I’ve had loads of sparring, all at my weight, something I’ve never had before, so I’m boxing a lot more. I’m not just looking for knockouts, I’m using my skills again, and things are just on top of the world, there’s no stopping me.

“I had problems in my last fight as I didn’t warm up for the fight, I was a pound over and got fined. This time I will turn up to the venue and I don’t mind being there at five o’clock in the afternoon, I’ll be ready. I’ll learn from my mistakes and make sure I’ll have had the best preparation.”