Upcoming title challenger Eric “The Outlaw’ Hunter is in London and feeling more motivated now than ever to take the title away from Welsh champion Lee Selby.
A proud Philadelphia fighter, Hunter (21-3, 11 KOs) will face Selby (22-1, 8 KOs) in a 12-round battle this Saturday, April 9, for Selby’s IBF World Featherweight Championship at The O2 in London. The bout will serve as the featured fight before undefeated IBF Heavyweight World Champion Charles Martin defends his belt against fellow unbeaten Anthony Joshua. Extensive highlights of Hunter vs. Selby will be shown on Showtime, prior to live coverage of Martin-Joshua at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.
“I wasn’t invited to the open workout yesterday,” said Hunter. “They had an open workout for Selby and didn’t have one for me. I’m kind of irritated about that. It’s not even fair to the fans, you know? I’m sure that a lot of fans wanted to see who their man is fighting. I have no choice but to use it as fuel for even more motivation.”
The 29-year-old Hunter, in Europe for the first time, says he doesn’t mind travelling to win this championship. In fact, despite being an underdog via the odds makers, Hunter says his victory won’t be an upset. “I won’t call it an upset when I win. I’m the better fighter. And it doesn’t bother me to come here. All the great ones had to do it. I want to be great, so I have to do this. As long as they don’t cheat me with the judges, I’m ok.”
Hunter says his victory will be the culmination of his lifelong dream. “It would mean everything. It would right my wrongs. All those who doubted me. All my failures and letdowns on the way here. It will turn all my negatives into positives.”
