Armstrong inspires Magee

Brian Magee will be inspired by Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong when he clashes with Robin Reid at Belfast’s King’s Hall tomorrow.

The super-middleweights meet for the IBO title and champion Magee believes he will have to dig deep to prevail.

The unbeaten Ulsterman knows that 33-year-old former WBC champion Reid, who lost controversially on points in an IBF title fight in December, will provide the acid test of his southpaw skills but he is defiantly self-confident, drawing inspiration from five-times Tour De France winner Armstrong.

“No matter what the sport, there’s always doubts. I have been reading Lance Armstrong’s autobiography and it’s incredible that he came back from cancer to win the Tour and he’s going for a sixth win,” said Magee.

“He was a world champion before he got cancer and most people would have said ’Ah forget it, I’m a millionaire, I’ll just enjoy life’ but he got back on the bike and away he went.

“He speaks about even when he’s going up the mountains and there are doubts.

“When the grind comes you get those thoughts, ’should I give up’ and the difference is the mental strength. That’s what sorts out the winners from losers at the highest level.

“Mentally I am strong and I will need to be in this fight. You know why the doubts are there – it’s your mind playing tricks on you and you just have to get through it.

“Lance Armstrong is an inspiration. The way he approached the obstacles in his life. The attitude he took. He’s classed as ‘Superman’ in his sport but he speaks about how hard it was to get there and I can relate to that.

“It was years before he could even finish the Tour. He had to go into the technical side of things because being a powerhouse was not enough.

“It’s a bit like boxing, when two boxers are equally trained and equally fit it comes down to the mind. You need a bit of everything to survive in world class and I think I have that.”

Runcorn fighter Reid has already insisted that the pressure is on Magee to prove himself, particularly in the light of his last defence in April when he had to climb off the floor to overcome Nigerian outsider Jerry Elliott.

But the 29-year-old champion insists that the Elliott experience has only infused him with even more confidence.

“I have good mental strength. It’s something you learn, the mental toughness to grind out a win. I showed that against Elliott,” added Magee.

“The worst thing that could have happened to me was getting put down but I showed I was a champion by getting off the floor to win. That’s when you dig deep and you draw on an inner faith to keep you going.

“This is my highest profile and I know that if I can beat Robin Reid then a lot of doors will open and I will be forcing them to give me a major title fight. I’m ready.”

Reid, though, feels that this is the ideal route back to the major league, choosing a clash with Magee rather than a European title shot.

“When I saw his last fight I got on the phone to my promoter Jess Harding and told me to get the fight,” said Reid.

“I saw weaknesses there that I believe I can exploit. I actually think he’s a bit chinny, I think you saw that in the Elliott fight.

“That was a guy moving up from middleweight to super-middleweight but when I hit him it will be with the force of a natural super-middleweight.

“I chose this fight because I believe that it is the easier route for me back to getting a major belt. I believe my time is now.”

Salford’s Commonwealth light-middleweight champion Jamie Moore defends his belt against Ghana’s Commonwealth welterweight title-holder Ossie Duran in what could be every bit as exciting as Magee-Reid.

Duran may be moving up a division but he has the power to trouble Moore though the champion should come through to retain his title.