Ian Lewison [10-2-1]

It seems as though it's been very eventful for you since Prizefighter. You've crammed in a few fights, you picked up the Southern Area title along the way, you've had a change of management, then there was the Eddie Chambers fight that didn't go ahead, and now next up for you it's a British title eliminator! So a lot of things have happened within a short space of time?

Yeah, it's about time. Things are starting to happen for me now. If you look at it, a lot has happened since my management has changed. Certain things were holding me back, but I'm not pointing any fingers or blaming anybody for that. I'm just saying that opportunities are presenting themselves and that I am now happy with my career direction. I have come to realise that there were offers being made in the past, fights that I would have definitely been interested in if it were up to me, but they were turned down. You did of course suffer an injury which unfortunately denied you the opportunity to fight Eddie Chambers. What was the injury, how was it sustained, and just how frustrating was it not get that Chambers fight?

Basically my knee suddenly gave way on me in training. It was an awful injury that took a lot of time to fully heal. It was so frustrating for me since fighting someone of Eddie Chamber' calibre would have been such a good opportunity to get recognition. He is a proven world-class fighter and he went 12 rounds with Wladimir Klitschko, who is not only the heavyweight king, but one of the best pound-for-pound right now. Chambers may have got stopped in the last round, but that's still far better than what most have been able to do against Klitschko.

Next up for you is an official British title eliminator against Gary Cornish. How do you rate him and what type of fight are you expecting? I don't rate him and think he should have stayed on the farm shearing his sheep. I think he's useless. The only thing he can box is eggs. It's going to be like a game of Pacman, I'll eat him and then walk out.

You recently said about Gary Cornish "I could fight him in the front room of his house and it would make no difference. I’ll flatten the man anywhere” So needless to say, you're not phased at all about going over to Scotland to fight him? No, it doesn't phase me at all. Fact is, it's always been that way for me, even throughout my amateur career. It's never phased me and is not a factor on the fight itself as far as I'm concerned. At the end of the day, it's between me and him. He's not able to tag someone else in at the end of every round, so being at home has no benefit for him. It's just a venue and I'll take him out wherever it is.

How's your training going for that fight? Are you feeling good? Yeah, I feel good. Everything is as it should be.

You've been doing conditioning training with Jon Durrant since last year. How has that been going for you? Yeah, it's been very beneficial for me. With increased activity having fights back-to-back, I'm noticing that the conditioning work is definitely paying dividends. When I wasn't fighting regularly, there was no continuity. You can't build on the fitness you have if you're waiting long periods in-between fights. When I would previously feel as though I was getting tired now, I now notice that I am recovering much quicker. The weigh-in scales only tell a part of the picture. It doesn't tell the full story of the preparation and training leading up to a fight. If my weight on the day doesn't sound good on paper, I would say to not draw anything from that.

You've been chasing domestic fights for a while. An English title fight with John McDermott was called off twice, Sam Sexton didn't happen, Richard Towers didn't happen, Audley Harrison didn't happen. But now the BBBoC are putting you in a British title eliminator. So, it seems that a path is opening up where you could become the mandatory challenger for the British title. So if indeed fighters do want to avoid you, they can't really do so anymore? Yeah, this is the position I have been hoping to get into. There are fighters who haven't wanted to take the risk in fighting me and I don't blame them. If I was offered a fight against myself I wouldn't be keen on it either.

It seems that whoever ends up securing the British title might end up on a collision course with Anthony Joshua. Would that be a big fight that you would relish? I would definitely welcome that meeting if it happens. That's the only fight on the domestic scene which excites me and I think it would also be easy to arrange.

David Price is supposed to returning to Britain, so might that potential meeting appeal? Would be some unfinished business from the amateurs? It would indeed be unfinished business. I would put him on his ass in the pro game though, simple as that.

Plenty felt that you outcalssed Derric Rossy to the point that he had nothing left going into the final of Prizefighter. Ever since then, he has gone on to contest a WBA regional title, beaten Joe Hanks, and many thought he deserved to get the nod against Glazkov. Do you take encouragement from what he's been doing when you know that you outperformed him when you boxed? Yeah, I do see it like that. Everyone knows I outclassed him, but then everyone talks about these upsets he has managed on merit. Also, look at Timo Hoffman as well. I took him out in the first round and he had no issues going 12 rounds in his next fight against Alexander Petkovic. He has gone 12 rounds with a lot of guys over the years. The way I see it, my performances against these guys shows the level I am already at.

Any favourite fighters from past or present? I would say I look up to Roy Jones Jr. and Evander Holyfield. They were my two favourite fighters. If you're a trainer, you would look at RJJ and say that everything he does is technically wrong, but he did it anyway and it worked so well for him. As for Holyfield, I admired his legacy, his strength and his unbreakable will. I was happy to see him retire recenty. When you're losing against guys that you would have beaten very easily in your prime, it's time to walk away.

The Fury-Chisora rematch has of course been rescheduled. How do you see that fight unfolding? I reckon Chisora will win it on points. I think it will be a hard fight with plenty of closely contested rounds, but that Chisora will nick it. Delboy has grown as a fight and improved ever since making some changes, but a question is now being asked of his durability after being wobbled a bit in his last fights. I think that dropping the weight is a contributory factor, as is the amount of hard shots he has taken over time.

Message for your supporters? Thank you for the support to all those who have been supporting me. If you haven't been up to this point, now is a brilliant time to start.

Any final words, Ian?

I would like to thank rvl3security, Don Charles, Mickey Helliet, Jon Durrant, and everyone who has helped me get to where I am.