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Alex Reid: “It won't be a whitewash”
23 Aug 2010
Props: www.bamma.com
By Hywel Teague
Reality TV show star and BAMMA middleweight title challenger Alex Reid has vowed fans will see a brand new model come September 25th.
And as the celebrity fighter prepares for a shot at champ Tom ‘Kong’ Watson, he’s revealed that his toughest opponent won’t be facing him from across the cage; it’ll be a personal battle with his own demons.
“I’m not even fighting Tom Watson, I’m fighting Alex Reid,” says ‘The Reidernator’. “If the right Alex Reid turns up, I’m laughing. I haven’t seen him in a while. But there are glimpses of him coming out in training, and he’s coming out more and more.”
Reid was scheduled to fight Watson on BAMMA 3 last April, but requested the fight be postponed due to a serious knee injury.
The move drew harsh criticism from Watson, but Reid is adamant the move meant fans would see the very best from the 35-year-old kickboxer.
“I’ve fought with injuries many times; I’ve fought injured in the past. When I got the knee injury, I said ‘I can fight, I can fight’. But the injury was that bad it was hurting in bed at night, it would wake me up. I thought how the fuck can I fight like this? It was nagging me.”
“When I fought Matt Ewin for a British title [2007], my knee popped out in the changing room right before the fight. I strapped it up, hobbled down the runway and fought, and the fight went the distance! I thought, why am I fighting injured? There are injuries and then there are injuries.”
Despite Reid’s track record as a fearless competitor, some observers thought his developing media career was responsible for a lack of focus, but he’s keen fans recognise him first and foremost as a fighter.
“In the last year I’ve become a celebrity for being a celebrity, not being an athlete.
Despite this meaning so much to me, I am an athlete and I love competition. This fight is so important to me. Win lose or draw, so long as I give it everything I’ve got, I’ll be a happy man.”
Of course, Reid’s goal is victory, and he says he’s going to prove the doubters wrong if they think Watson is going to walk over him.
“No fighter goes into the cage thinking they can’t win,” says Reid. “I don’t think it’s going to be the whitewash Tom or his people have said it will be. No way it’s going to be a whitewash.”
Alex Reid fights Tom Watson on BAMMA 4, September 25th 2010 at the NIA Arena in Birmingham.
Tickets are available at www.ticketfactory.co.uk. For more information on the event go to www.bamma.com.
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