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Lee Purdy the underdog hopes to beat Devon Alexander and win the IBF welterweight title

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One lesser-known British boxer Is hoping to build on the unexpected world championship success of another by springing an even bigger upset on Saturday.

Seven nights after Jamie McDonnell’s victory over Mexican wonder-kid Julio Ceja to win the vacant IBF bantamweight belt to become Doncaster’s first world champion, Colchester’s Lee Purdy faces an even more daunting task.

Purdy flies to Atlantic City to take on the experienced world welterweight champion Devon Alexander.

Underdog: But Lee Purdy will become the third Briton to win a world title fight in a week if he beats Devon Alexander

Out of his depth? Colchester welterweight Purdy's world title shot was unexpected

Talented: And Alexander is capable of being an elusive opponent

Missing out: Until his withdrawal, Kell Brook had been scheduled to face Alexander

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Where McDonnelll had worked his way up the rankings, albeit unobtrusively, Purdy is being thrown in at the deep end on the other side of the pond as a late replacement for Sheffield’s Kell Brook.

The second withdrawal by Brook with injury from this title challenge  – and third postponement in total – opened the way for Purdy to be called in ‘out of the blue’.

He will start on the fabled Boardwalk as a long-shot outsider but can take some heart from Alexander’s lack of reputation as a big puncher.

The American is better known as a clever technician with a style which makes him extremely difficult to hit.

Purdy, 25, has been a domestic campaigner thus far. His 20-fight record is pock-marked by one draw and three defeats, and in one he lost his briefly held British title to former light welterweight champion Colin Lynes 18 months ago. Since then four stoppage wins have moved him high enough up the IBF rankings to qualify as a challenger to Alexander.

The complete absence of an amateur career is also a worry but promoter Eddie Hearn, who has Brook as well as Purdy in his stable, says: ‘If the chance comes you cannot deny a boxer his dream of a world title shot. And in this game anything can happen.’

There is no question that the battling Purdy will give it his all.

If he pulls off his big surprise, Brook will regret all the more missing his moment.

World champion: Jamie McDonnell beat Julio Ceja to take the IBF bantamweight title

Keen observer: Amir Khan will be among those watching Purdy v Alexander

 

Amir Khan is expected to be at ringside in Atlantic City on Saturday night and has three reasons for being so.

1) To encourage fellow Brit Lee Purdy in his challenge to IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander.

2) To support his younger brother Haroon in his second professional fight.

3) To watch Lamont Peterson, a controversial winner over Amir, defend his IBF light welterweight title against Argentine KO merchant Lucas Matthysse.

Khan'ss Former foe: Lamont Peterson will also be in action, against Lucas Matthysse

Both Peterson and Alexander are among the candidates to face Khan in his next fight, in December.If Peterson denies Matthysse he is expected to meet Danny Garcia in the final of the current, informal, tournament – with Khan offered the chance to meet the winner in a unification bout at light welterweight.

Alternatively, assuming Alexander beats Purdy, Khan could move up to welterweight immediately in the hope that a winter win over the American would propel him into an enriching superfight against the great Floyd Mayweather next May.

  Game over? Scott Harrison may have fought for the last time, given he is to return to prison

Scott Harrison has been ordered to return to Spain to serve a second prison term in that country, a move which threatens the termination of his boxing career.

The wee Glasgow wild man, who spent two years in a Spanish jail for a previous offence, has lost an appeal for a new four-year term to be suspended.

Harrison has been warned that unless he goes back to Spain voluntarily next month he will be extradited from Britain.

Past his prime: Harrison previously held the world featherweight title

A former two-time world featherweight champion, Harrison’s latest run-in with the authorities comes as he has been attempting a comeback from his previous incarceration. But after one warm-up victory he failed on points in last month’s challenge for Liam Walsh’s European lightweight title.

Now he is facing the music for an assault on three men in a Spanish brothel. At 35, and facing four more years behind bars, it looks like a sorry end for a Scottish warrior who could not restrict his aggressive instinct to inside of the ropes.

  More... Brave Burns deserved lucky break but must take stock after Gonzalez quits on stool Burns: Warren suing me doesn't increase the pressure of fighting Gonzalez (maybe that's why he's the world champion still working as a sports shop sales assistant!) Burns retains WBO lightweight title after injury forces Gonzalez off in Glasgow McDonnell victorious over Ceja to take bantamweight title in Doncaster









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