Tony Bellew and Isaac Chilemba will fight again in an official final eliminator for the WBC light heavyweight title on the sold-out Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler bill Warriors’ Call in association with Betfair at the O2 Arena in London, live on Sky Box Office on May 25.
The pair clashed at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on March 30 with the contest ending in a draw, and now Bellew says he intends to grab his second chance with both hands.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to put things right,” said Bellew. “I have to get my head down and work doubly hard in the weeks ahead of the fight to make sure the job gets done properly this time around.
“I’ve had a bit of stick but I can take it and I’ve learned from what happened. It’ll be a different fight this time around – the first fight should’ve been a great one but it just didn’t work out that way. I won’t be making predictions this time, just concentrating on working hard and beating Isaac to land that World title shot.”
Chilemba travels to England once more to tackle Bellew, and the Malawian intends to shock the Scouser on the biggest stage of all.
“For most opportunity knocks once, I’ve been fortunate and with my blessing of a second chance I will not leave my future in anyone else’s hands,” said Chilemba. “I believe I won the first fight but that’s now irrelevant – but I will be winning the second fight.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “I’m over the moon to add this fight to a special night of boxing. Both men have a score to settle and I take my hat off to them for agreeing the rematch so quickly. I think you will see a different kind of fight this time, no one will leave it to chance and both need to make a statement this time around.”
