KEY POINTS:
Shane Cameron's corner is disappointed at the injury to American opponent Kelvin Davis as a win over him would have raised the local fighter's stakes considerably on the world market.
Although replacement heavyweight Brazilian Jucimar Hipolito appears to be in good shape, his record of 12-7 with four knock-outs is uninspiring. His ranking at 494 of 1061 fighters recorded by BoxRec suggests Cameron, ranked 38, will make quick work of him.
At yesterday's weigh-in for tonight's Fight For Life charity event, Hipolito declared through an interpreter that he was not intimidated by Cameron's record of 18 wins, 16 by knock-out. "He should be scared of me, I've come for the belts."
Cameron will defend his IBF Pan Pacific and WBA Pan African belts and the WBO Asia Pacific title is up for grabs, all three organisations having sanctioned the re-match.
The referee for tonight's main event at Trusts Stadium, Lance Revill, judged Hipolito to be in shape when the boxer took his shirt off before weighing in at 104kg, 1kg heavier than Cameron.
Cameron's manager, Kenny Reinsfield, said his charge had dropped weight in expectation of facing the shorter, faster Davis. The right hand he broke on Aussie Bob Mirovic's head in his last victory had repaired well.
Trainer Lolo Heimuli has worked specifically to give Cameron more punching variety with the left while his right was out of action. He said Cameron was well prepared.
The hometown boy will also enjoy a height and reach advantage, clearly 8cm to 10cm taller than the Brazilian although statistics list him as equal to Cameron's 1.88m.
There was sympathy for Davis' plight after he broke his back jumping off the Greenhithe bridge apparently to avoid traffic while on a training run, and Cameron and his team visited the American in hospital yesterday.
Cameron has been sparring with American Chauncy Welliver who is ranked 129 by BoxRec after a record of 32 wins, 12 by KO, three losses and four draws. Welliver has been preparing to fight American Samoan Seiaute Mailata on the undercard.
Nicknamed "The Fat Dorky White Boy", Welliver weighed in at 121.5kg, including a banana that was sticking out of his shorts pocket. When someone in the crowd yelled: "Take your shirt off." Welliver just laughed.
The 24-year-old's record shows he can fight. Mailata, 31, weighed in at 94kg and looked cut, so it's bulk versus speed and stamina.
There was another withdrawal from the programme yesterday after Richard Tutaki broke a knuckle in training for his heavyweight fight against West Aucklander Joey Wilson. Sam Leuii will be the replacement.
The best fight may be the first between light middle-weights Dion McNabney, 31, who had 40 fights before turning pro and is 3-0, against five-time Indian national champ Harry Venka, 24, 3-1.
