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Bell welcomes Maccarinelli fight

28/10/2006

O'Neill Bell, the WBA and WBC Cruiserweight champion, has claimed he is ready and willing to take on his Welsh WBO counterpart Enzo Maccarinelli in a bout on either side of the Atlantic early next year.

"Enzo's a courageous man, no-one else in the division is willing to fight me. I respect a man who has just won his championship calling out the best," the Jamaican told BBC Radio Wales.

"I've emailed his people, I believe it could happen next year. Both Enzo and myself are in a win-win situation. I'd fight wherever there was the most money to be made, whether that was in the UK or the US."

The Swansea fighter has already made a trip across the pond with promoter Frank Warren and stable-mate Joe Calzaghe in a bid to raise the duo's profile with the American boxing public and press.

"I'd love to fight Bell over here in February. I've been really surprised at the number of people who've seen me fight," he told US journalists earlier this week.

With two closely matched professional records, Bell has recorded 26 victories and suffered one defeat while Maccarinelli has just one less win and also lost once, the fight may well attract the interest of the crucial American broadcasters.

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