"Stop making yourself look stupid, McIntosh" - Tony Oakey

Seasoned campaigner, Tony Oakey (29-4-1) now in his twelfth year as a professional has a warning for his younger and less experienced opponent Danny McIntosh (10-1) ahead of tomorrow’s (Friday) English light-heavyweight title match (Hatton Promotions) in Stoke’s Fenton Manor Sports Complex.

I spoke with him recently after he had finished yet another gruelling training session at East London’s TKO gym. As he tucked into his tub of pasta and chicken the highly respected South Coast man was in fighting form.

“He (Danny) isn’t good enough to end my career. I’ve beaten beater people than McIntosh, I’ve boxed at a higher level. I’ve sparred world champions.

That’s inside the ring but the several times I’ve seen Danny on ITV4 he has never looked or sounded a little shy before a tear up. Isn’t Tony moved by Danny’s mouth?

“I am not at all fazed by anything Danny McIntosh can say. All I would say to him at the time is, stop making yourself look stupid. How does he think he is going to try and psyche out a 34-year-old?  I have won more title than he has had hot dinners.”

Oakey, a former British and Commonwelth light-heavyweight champion, drew comparisons between himself and Danny in common opponent Nathan Cleverly. It was the Welshman that handed McIntosh his first defeat last July while Tony came off second best via a points decision in October 2008.

“He starts shouting his mouth off but he had three weeks notice and got stopped in seven. I had three weeks notice and gave him a hard 12-round fight so what does that tell you?”

Tony thinks that stoppage defeat will have left its’ scars and Danny will be up against it.

“It can’t but not affect him and he is in with the wrong man if he thinks he will not have to go to hell and back to beat me. To beat Tony Oakey you have to go to be something special.”

This kind of talk could give the wrong impression that Oakey is a little complacent but he quickly dispels that myth.

“I have got the utmost respect for Danny McIntosh and I am treating him like he is very special but at the end of the day I think Tony Oakey has got too much for him in every department.”

Well we have heard that all before haven’t we? A fighter who says he’s keeping his feet on the ground yet behind all the talk training is a little slack to say the least.

But Oakey isn’t just a talker he is a tried and tested trainer. Two weeks before the fight his trainer Johnny Eames had to send him home to Portsmouth for a day off because he was only a couple of pounds over the 12st 7lbs championship weight limit.

Eames describes Tony as the model professional. And it’s not surprising since Oakey trains several times a day, six times a week and has been sparring with former foe but now friend Peter Haymer and another TKO resident in Jason Rowland’s Tony Conquest.

This has been Tony’s way of life since his unpaid days and he has added a new dimension which helps keep this 34-year-old like a spring chicken.

“I have always been an exceptionally hard trainer even when I was an amateur heavyweight but as time has gone on I’ve learnt more about the nutritional side and sports supplements and as I have got older I’ve realised what I’ve got to lose and have got more dedicated as time has gone on.”

It’s not just the McIntosh fight that helps keep his fire burning. Tony dreams regaining the British title and having another tussle with Nathan Cleverly feeling he wasn’t given ample time before their bout.

“My ultimate aim is to win the British title outright and get a rematch with Cleverly. I want to put my demons to sleep. They say he is a mathematician, do the sums. He (Cleverly) had three and a half months preparation, I had three and a half weeks give me three months the same as him and it will be a different fight.”

At this point his trainer jumped in. “Give us three months and we will have a month off.”

It is a fight they are both confident of winning. All they want is the phone to ring with an offer.

Tomorrow night when the bell rings I see Tony stopping Danny somewhere around the middle rounds.

It’s no shock Oakey’s favourite film is Braveheart.

This warrior is not ready to die just yet.