Anderson refocused and revitalised for his “moment of truth” by Tom Walker Feb 27th 2008

Buckhaven's Kevin Anderson is still smarting from the shock of his defeat to Paisley's Kevin McIntyre and loss of his British welterweight title in the Magnum Centre some four months ago. Defeat again would surely signal the end of what dreams he harboured for his meteoric boxing career, but this is something which the Fifer is not contemplating, having spent much more time with Bob Shannon in preparation for this bout than he did for the one which cost him so dearly. Anderson is quoted as having said: "I'm going into this fight with no title. If I go back to the dressing room with no title then I'm going to be unstuck. I have been in Manchester a long time preparing for this contest and I'm ready to reclaim my title”. "I flattened my final sparring partner so I know I've been doing well and I'm looking forward to the weekend. McIntyre will need to do a lot better this time because, deep down, I know it was a bad, bad performance the last time. "I won't be as bad as that again because I've got a hunger I haven't had for a long time." Many pundits in boxing, myself included with the benefit of hindsight, felt that he had underestimated Kevin McIntyre before the bout in Irvine; furthermore he'd possibly taken the McIntyre bout too soon! Coming as it did only six weeks after his strength sapping battle with Franny Jones of Darlington, not to mention his previous two opponents Eamonn Magee and Ali Nuumbembe, all in the space of nine months. Kevin McIntyre himself realises that he will be facing a different Kevin Anderson in the opposite corner on Friday night in the Kelvin Hall, but remains confident that he can retain the belt he won so convincingly on a unanimous point's decision. McIntyre makes the point that Anderson is now in the position that he himself was in before they met for the first time. McIntyre is quoted as having said: "I know there's a person gunning for my title so how could I be complacent? "Everyone's putting my title win down to a one-off but I know I boxed as well when I won my Celtic title in Wales before the fight. "My good fortune was that fight wasn't shown on television so nobody saw me box out of my skin. I took the confidence from that win and carried it into the fight with Anderson." Both boxers will need to be on their marks for this fight, as the loser will be in a boxing cul-de-sac with nowhere to turn around. The blue touch paper has been lit for what can be a cracker.

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