Boxing: Cameron confident of firepower tonight

Boxer Shane Cameron. Photo / Dean Purcell

Dominic Vea's chin is in for a shock tonight in Sydney.

At least that's what Shane Cameron thinks ahead of a bout for the Commonwealth Cruiserweight title that he believes will put his career firmly back on the rails.

A former heavyweight, Cameron has shed close to 15kg from an already ripped frame to make the 90.7kg cruiserweight limit. So far his outings at or close to the new weight class - unanimous points victories over Australians Anthony McCracken and Daniel Ammann - have supported the traditional theory that dropping the weight has stripped him of his power.

Cameron, though, insists that is no longer the case and Vea's camp have badly underestimated his firepower.

"They go on that I am struggling to make the weight and this and that but they don't know that I am not struggling to make the weight," Cameron said before yesterday's weigh-in.

Cameron hasn't fought for seven months but he has retained his fighting trim, and now feels comfortable with his new physique.

"The body has adapted and I'm feeling good," he said. "The strength has come, the speed has come. The boy who is turning up to fight me ain't gonna expect what I am gonna be delivering. The last two fights are no gauge to what I am going to be bringing [tonight]."

Cameron has billed the fight, which screens free-to-air on Maori TV at around 9.30pm, as a must win, saying he will retire if he loses. "If I can't beat this guy there is no point being in the boxing business."

It's a fair enough analysis. The 30-year-old Vea has won 13 of his 15 fights, but has only once fought outside the New South Wales circuit.

Cameron boasts a 26-2 record but his career has stalled since his devastating loss to David Tua in October 2009. His final fight at heavyweight was a disqualification victory over John Hopoate. He then won a 10-round decision over Ammann at an agreed 95kg limit, followed by a 12-round victory over McCracken last November.

Cameron did make the weight for his last fight thanks to a harsh dietary regime of six or seven small meals a day consisting mainly of boiled rice, chicken and fish.

"Anything that tastes good is generally not too good for you," he said. "It is a pretty dry and bland diet, but that is part and parcel of being a cruiserweight. The ultimate goal is getting a world title fight, which overcomes all of those sacrifices."

Whether he gets that title shot will depend not just on his own performance but also the result of the headline fight between IBO champ Danny Green and American veteran Antonio Tarver.

Cameron's manager Ken Reinsfeld is in talks with the Green camp with a view to holding a title defence against the Gisborne native in New Zealand. But the 38-year-old Green will have his work cut out with Tarver. Although past his prime at 42, the American's record boasts victories in two out of three fights with Roy Jones jnr and he also went 12 rounds in a unanimous points defeat to Bernard Hopkins in an IBO light heavyweight title fight in 2006.

Although he needs Green to hold up his end of the deal for his title shot dream to come to fruition, Cameron insists he isn't looking that far ahead.

"One fight at a time. The task in front of me is Vea and I am more than confident I will take care of business. I'm putting everything on the line."