World clout as York boxing ace Graham Fearn targets David Haye card

8:53am Wednesday 10th February 2010

By Dave Flett

YORK boxer Graham Fearn is targeting a place on the undercard for David Haye’s first world heavyweight title defence at the Manchester MEN Arena in April.

Fearn, 33, will climb back into the ring for his ninth professional fight next month when he takes on serving soldier Amir Unsworth at the Doncaster Dome on March 5.

Should he come through unscathed, light-welterweight Fearn has then asked his manager Mick Marsden to line him up a contest on the night when Haye will risk his WBA belt against American John Ruiz. Sleaford fighter Unsworth boasts nine wins and one draw from 12 pro bouts while his New Earswick-based opponent has won five from eight.

About his latest six, three-minute round contest, Fearn said: “He’s a serving soldier in Iraq so he’s a full-time trainer and they don’t come any fitter than this guy.

“I’ve checked him out on the internet and he’s a very aggressive fighter. He likes to come forward, as I do, so it’s got all the makings of a cracking fight.”

Fearn also countered what he termed “trash talk” doing the rounds about his so far explosive pro career.

He said: “There has been a bit of trash talk from within the York boxing community that so-and-so won’t box such-and-such, but I don’t go into the ring with people who have losing records.

“I like to go for up-and-coming prospects. That’s why I took on English boxing’s first world amateur champion in Frankie Gavin because you get more credit if you try and beat somebody with a winning record.”

Fearn lost to Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Gavin after winning a place on the bill for Amir Khan’s world title contest against Andreas Kotelnik in Manchester last July and he is desperate for another chance to perform on the international stage. He said: “I’d be willing to fight anybody in the country to get on the Haye show.”

The Nestlé Aero production line worker is also in the process of planning a trip to Freddie Roche’s world-famous Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, where the likes of Khan and Manny Pacquaio – rated the world’s best pound for pound fighter – are put through their paces.

Added Fearn: “I’m going there to train with the best and it will be another box to tick for when I start to train people myself.”

The Doncaster fight will represent a notable landmark for Fearn. “If I make ten stone on March 5, I will have a big smile, as it will mean I have been that weight for ten years,” he pointed out.