Steven Bell hoping to excel in lead role by Terry Dooley Oct 6th 2007

Steven Bell is set to make the first step on his road to a sweep of domestic honours when he takes on Bradford's Femi Fehintola in Nottingham this Saturday night. The vacant English super-featherweight will be at stake. Two times ABA winner Bell, who is also an aspiring actor, hopes that a win over Fehintola will catapult him into contention for the British title currently held by Carl Johanneson. In a sense, after a slow burning career thus far, Bell is, along with Femi, auditioning for a bout against the winner of Johanneson-Michael Gomez, who fight one another later this month. So far this week the ever-busy Bell has done more interviews than OJ Simpson, although OJ's interviews tend to be with the boys in blue rather than the boys from BBN. We caught up with Steven to ask a few final questions about the bout itself. Firstly Bell assured us that he was making the weight with days to spare, at the time of speaking he was only a 1lb and ½ over the limit of 130lbs and he claimed that the final phase of his training had gone smoothly: Steven Bell: “I've just done a week or so of sharpening up and I'm feeling on the ball now. It has all gone to plan really as I've worked really hard and have had some good sparring with Steven Foster Junior.” Fehintola is a tidy boxer himself yet is hindered by a chronic lack of power in his fists. Bell, though, is aware that the man from Bradford has a gritty edge that belies his lack of power. Consequently Bell is preparing for a battle as well as a boxing match: SB: “To be honest you don't know what Femi is going to bring and how he is going to bring it. I know he is a decent boxer and he can box but he can also fight. “I've changed my style into becoming a box-fighter. In this game you've got to have a bit of a punch about you. You can't just stand there taking digs all night. You've got to be able to give it back. “I've planned for both ways: a fight and a boxing match: If he comes to have a fight I can fight and if he runs away I'll hunt him down. We'll just see how it goes over the first couple of rounds. I'll get my best shot working, which is the jab, and break him down with that.” Femi can get himself into a pretty good groove when on song and in his own fight with Johanneson, Fehintola looked like a decent fighter. As strange as it may sound when Femi was on his feet he controlled portions of the fight before being undone by the heavier fists of Johanneson. Bell does not have the same concussive power as Carl; on the other hand Steven feels that he has a jab that will be ideal for killing Femi's speed as well as setting up the taller Bell's own attacks: SB: “I think my jab will do the trick. I've got a couple of inches on him and he's probably spent his career fighting lads smaller than him. I've fought smaller guys as well but I've fought guys with different styles during my career and I can adjust to all styles really. “I am throwing my jab a lot more than I did in the past and that is my main punch for breaking a fighter down. I'll be throwing that shot quite often.” As I spoke with Bell about the fight Steven made it clear that he was not underestimating Fehintola, especially after seeing him perform so bravely against Johanneson: SB: “I watched the fight with Carl on the night. He started off quite well. I predicted that that would happen because Carl is not as fast on his feet as Femi, but Carl wore him down over a few rounds and got to him. “Femi made the mistake of trying to have a fight with Carl and Carl is a banger. Femi is not scared, he comes to have a go and he is tidy and sharp and everyone knows that about him. I think I'll either get to him late on or take it on points. It depends on how it goes but I'm looking for a late stoppage really.” With 3 stoppages in his last 4 fights, after never previously putting a stoppage run together, Bell is confident that his increased aggression and punching will make its mark on this fight: SB: “I think as a fighter I'm really underestimated and my power is as well. In my last few fights I've had a few more stoppages and that is something I've been working on with Arnie (Anthony Farnell, the trainer of Bell) over the past few years. “I think I've gotten a lot stronger and that is down to the experience of becoming a professional boxer really and it something I can show on Saturday night. I can show I've got strength, power and speed and if I combine the three I can do the job.” Part of Bell's self-belief stems from the fact that the fighter feels he was given a rude introduction to the pro ranks. Two draws already sit on his record, against Jus Wallie in his pro debut and Buster Dennis in fight eight. However Bell is philosophical about these draws. Instead of seeing them as blemishes to hide away he feels that they are lessons he has learned: SB: “The (drawn) fight with Jus Wallie was the best fight I could have had to begin boxing. People seem to think your debut should be an easy fight but there are no easy fights in this game and the fight was harder than it should have been. “Jus was a southpaw, an International fighter as an amateur and he was only having his 4th pro fight so he had a bit of ambition. It was a tough fight but I knew after that I had to change my ways and be fitter.” Bell also feels that for a fighter with his style the four round distances were a hindrance rather than a help, a few close or messy rounds, common when one faces a southpaw, can come back and haunt you when you approach the ref at the final bell: SB: “Over four rounds you can fight anyone and find it hard to win because it is more of an amateur distance.” Despite this first-fight disappointment Bell had reason to feel confident about his ability to make the transition from amateur to professional boxer: SB: “I had two years of sparring with Michael Gomez when I first turned over and that was a great input into my boxing. Proving you can spar with Gomez proves that you can do well against the best of them.” Now, then, the time is right for him to take a step in the direction of meaningful titles. The English title will give him a rankings boost as well as, potentially, allowing him to go 10 rounds for the first time in his career thus far. Bell recognises the legitimacy of the title and the challenge but is already setting his sights beyond Saturday's fight: SB: “For me Femi is a stepping stone for bigger and better things, no disrespect to Femi. I know I deserve this win and I'm going to prove it on Saturday night. “I think Femi is a good measuring stick for me as he fought has Johanneson. If I cannot fight the likes of Gomez and Carl now then I'll never be ready. I'm a late developer as a fighter and I'm fresh. I've not had many hard fights. I've got experience as well so I'll be looking for a fight with the winner of Gomez or Carl. I'll be watching that one closely but I've got to get this one out of the way first. Beat Femi and I can go onto better things.” Bell is also pragmatically aware that he might after put friendship with Gomez aside if Gomez wins the British title on the 29th of this month: SB: “I fancy Michael to do something in that fight. It could go less than five rounds because someone could get caught fast and early. Gomez is drinking in the last chance saloon and has been doing for ages but he has had more comebacks than Rocky!” The ten-round distance in Saturdays fight, also, is not seen as a problem: SB: “I've always trained for ten rounds anyway. I finish training with twelve rounds so I know I can do it at a decent pace. I'll always be prepared to go the distance and to fight every round as hard as the first. I feel as fit if not fitter than for any other fight so I know it will go well and everything is working for me at the minute.” The wild card scenario is that Femi, knowing this is a chance to get back into British title reckoning, draws on all of his, evidenced by the Johannesson fight, courage and raises his game on Saturday. Unlike Bell Femi has been in with a Carl Johanneson so understands what it takes to box at the higher level. Bell was sure that Femi would be a much improved fighter after the Johannesson fight but this did not stop Bell from remaining bullish about his chances. SB: “Femi will have learned a lot from that fight and it will bring something new to his game. I'm hoping for that. I want Femi to be at his best really so I can prove that I can beat top fighters. He will have improved but I am a totally different fighter to Carl. “We both bring something to the table so it could turn out to be a really interesting fight.” It will be an interesting fight. Femi was doing well against Carl but the superior strength and heavier punching told on Fehintola after six rounds of action. As discussed Bell is good with the straighter shots, as is Johanneson, plus possess a good left hook to the body. Despite the fact that Femi used his timing to land right hand counters against Johanneson in Bell he faces a fighter less eager to commit who can also box with him. It could be a case of Bell boxing his way into an early lead before heavier punches halt Femi late in the fight. Curtain Call: After the talk of boxing was over Bell discussed his oscillating career as an aspiring actor. Steven featured in ‘Hollyoaks', a channel four show, earlier this week and he told me that it was a buzz to see himself on screen. A few fighters have hoped to break into acting without realising that it is a hard career to break. You have to be more than competent; you have to break out of the chorus line and boxing can give fighters a platform into the acting profession. However they also need to bear in mind that success in the field of acting, for most boxers, must be underpinned by a successful boxing career. As Bell explained: SB: “Acting is like boxing, you might not hear something for a while then suddenly a job pops up offering a few months work. Boxing comes first for me but I do want to go all the way: British title, world title and a BAFTA!” It seems that Bell has got his head screwed on. In acting, as in boxing, he wants to conquer the UK first and foremost. The English title is a good start and as long as he keeps his eye on boxing as a primary career he will not end up as a cracked actor in the sport of boxing, which also happens to be the toughest show on the planet.

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