Jack Brubaker says his sights remain set on a world title as he prepares to headline the Johnny Lewis Boxing Series tomorrow night.
The Cronulla boxer will take on Englishman Tyrone Nurse at The Star in a Commonwealth Welterweight Title eliminator as part of the British Beef event which will also feature Rockdale’s Tim Tszyu on the undercard.
Both Brubaker and Nurse are coming off losses in their last fights in October. Luck was against Brubaker on the night as he had his bout against Commonwealth Welterweight champion Kris George stopped after he suffered a nasty cut.
Yorkshireman Nurse, who has a record of 35-3-2, lost his British Super Lightweight title to Jack Catterall in Leeds.
While the pair are also close in age, 28-year-old Nurse is vastly more experienced than Brubaker, with this his 41st professional fight to Brubaker’s 17th.
But what Brubaker gives up in experience he gains in power, with the 26-year-old recording as many knock outs (seven) as Nurse despite having 24 fewer fights.
Brubaker (13-2-1) told the Leader he was treating the bout as a must win.
“I want to win a world title. To do that I have to beat Tyrone Nurse,” he said.
“It’s a step in the road. I believe I can beat him 100 per cent. If I walk in and I’m 100 per cent on the night no one in the world can beat me.
“I’m expecting a lot of exposure. This will open up a lot of doors in the UK. He’s a great European fighter, he’s well known and well liked over there. Beating him convincingly is going to set up some big fights.
“Kris George is fighting [Josh] Kelly over in Europe in a month’s time. It’ll be interesting to see the outcome. Kelly would be a great scalp to have in the UK. There’s more world champs in the UK than the US right now. They’ve got some great boxing programs and who knows, after this fight and this win I’ll have a bit of a name, if I can do a training camp at a facility over there and get my name out there. That would be the ideal outcome, to get recognised by one of the big boxing promotions that do the big fights over there.”
For Brubaker to do that he will need a victory over Nurse, a fighter he has plenty of respect for. Despite Nurse moving up from super lightweight to welterweight he is expected to provide a strong challenge for Brubaker, with Nurse declaring he is yet to watch a single frame of Brubaker in action.
“He’s tall and lean, same sort of build. He’s got mad boxing skills. Slick, crafty, all the punches in the book,” Brubaker said.
“He lacks a bit of power. I’m going to box and be sharp and fast. It’s going to be a great fight. Stylistically it’ll be a great match up. He doesn’t mind standing in the pocket and trading them and I definitely love that. I’m definitely going to be the stronger man on the night.
“I’m right where I need to be. I’m the perfect age right now. I didn’t start boxing until late, I was 18 when I had my first amateur fight. I’m still a pup in boxing, I’ve got room to grow.
“Physically I’m at my best. I’ve done a 10-week camp for this, I brought on Jock Campbell as my new running coach. But mentally I’m so switched on. I’ve got no distractions outside the gym. Everything outside boxing is helping me towards my goals. I’m in the best position of my life.”