David Jamieson reckons he is being under-estimated by London’s boxing elite and that is a situation that suits him to a tee.
The East Kilbride boxer has been given a second chance to move closer to the British title that he so desperately craves when he takes to the ring at Wembley Arena for what has been billed as a final eliminator on Saturday night.
His opponent is Cheavon Clarke, the Jamaican-born former amateur heavyweight who is being touted in certain circles as the next big thing in the cruiserweight division.
Jamieson has been hand-picked by promoters Matchroom and handed a two-fight deal to give their man a robust test before eventually succumbing to what would be a sixth professional victory for Clarke.
That is not how Jamieson envisages it panning out, however. The 31-year-old believes it would be a big mistake for anyone to analyse how his previous attempt to win the British title ended and consider it a sign of weakness.
The Scot looked in good shape against Mikael Lawal in November after eight rounds before being caught with a left hook that broke his jaw. The Kynoch Boxing athlete does not believe that conclusion was a true reflection of the contest overall, especially one that he took at just 10 days’ notice.
Jamieson bristles slightly at the idea that he is merely a human punching bag for Clarke to display his full array of shots but has also been around the block long enough to know how the game works. To become the man, therefore, Jamieson has to beat the man.
“This is another massive opportunity for me so I must be doing something right,” he says. “It’s nice to get back out there having been given a proper crack of the whip – with 10 weeks’ notice rather than 10 days which has allowed me to have a proper training camp.
“This is the first time I’ve taken a bit of a sabbatical from my day job to prepare. It’s risk-reward at this stage of my career. Getting the two-fight deal with Matchroom I felt I had to dedicate all my time to this.
“Chev is no doubt a very good fighter and highly thought of having fought at the Olympics earlier in his career. But he’s very green in the pro ranks and it’s a whole different game over the longer rounds. I’m a wee bit more seasoned on that front so I’ll be looking to capitalise on that.
“People are maybe underestimating me because of how that Lawal fight ended. But that’s how boxing goes. The big boys like to look after their favourites and at this moment Chev’s seen as the man. And then when I beat him, I become the man.
“They’re maybe just seeing me as a durable, game opponent who’ll go and play my role. But that’s not the case for me. I’m not going there simply to make up the numbers.
“I’m raring to go. I was out in March just to prove to everyone – and to myself – that my jaw was fine and to get the rust off. And the jaw’s absolute fine now, so no worries on that front.
“It was just a freak occurrence that day. It’s like the saying goes – if you go swimming, you’re going to get wet. It was just one of those things that can happen in boxing and unfortunately it happened to me in a fight of that magnitude. It’ll teach me to move my head better in future!”
Jamieson has seen enough of the small-hall boxing circuit to always show his appreciation when an opportunity arises to perform on a more glamorous stage. This contest at Wembley Arena on the undercard of Sunny Edwards’ world title crack certainly comes into that category.
“Listen, it beats fighting in the miners’ welfare!” he adds with a laugh. “It’s definitely been a pinch-yourself moment seeing your face on a Matchroom poster and things like that. This is what you hope to achieve when you start out all
those years ago. I just have to make sure I capitalise on this opportunity.”
Jamieson has lost only twice in his professional career and both times to Lawal. A third meeting with the Lonsdale Belt again on the line would suit the Scot just fine, although it is a business complicated by Lawal’s withdrawal from his recent planned defence against Isaac Chamberlain.
“It’s an eliminator so the winner of this one will go on to fight for the British,” he explains. “It’s a bit more complicated now that the Lawal vs Chamberlain fight got called off and that will need to be sorted out. But there’s enough incentive for me to make sure I get the win against Chev.”
Jamieson watched with vested interest the recent WBO title fight in his division between Chris Billam-Smith and Lawrence Okolie. There is an acknowledgement that he still has a bit to go before he gets to world level but believes the gap is not as big as some people may think.
“I’ve lived the life for this one and dedicated myself wholly to prepare without having to work for once,” he adds. “So everyone will see in this fight that I’ll deserve to be part of that conversation soon enough.”
