Plenty of fight in Porter

KAEO-BORN boxer Jamie Porter has big ambitions in light of his first appearance in the Mahindra Super 8 tournament's 4-man cruiserweight division early next month.

Losing his Queensland Cruiserweight belt to Kurtis Pegoraro in August after breaking a bone in his hand four weeks out from the fight, Porter, 33, says he's feeling in tip-top shape heading into this next series of bouts.

With two fights, consisting of three rounds, on the card for each boxer, he'll have to hope his hand has come right if he is to stand a chance.

"I've been putting it under heaps of pressure, two-to-three hours of training each night after 12 hours of work each day," Porter, a civil contractor by day, said of his hand's recovery.

"I'm not going in to come second. I've been training hard and my head's in the right place."

Known for his lethal punching power, Porter will be looking to make use of his more powerful right hand.

However, his opponents - defending champion Israel Adesanya, Zane Hopman, and Lance Bryant - bring a diverse mix of fighting styles to the mix.

Living and training on Australia's Gold Coast for the last 10 years, Porter feels the pool of fighters he's come up against in Australia has helped him build a fighting style fit for counter-acting his Super 8 opponents.

"I've fought Lance before, and fought Zane Hopman last year and beat him," Porter said.

"I've been doing lots of sparring with different opponents as well ... so that's all covered. [The] skill level is a lot better in Australia compared to the New Zealand scene and it's a bigger pool of fighters."

Of the defending champion Adesanya, Porter is honest and complimentary in his appraisal of the two-time King in the Ring kickboxing champion and reigning Super 8 champ.

"I think he's top quality. He can fight and he seems to switch up quite well."

Confident he can finish Porter inside of three rounds, Adesanya respects the Kiwi's punching power but doesn't think he's quick enough to to land it.

Adding that Porter's not the same class of fighter as himself, Adesanya hopes he can get him fresh so he has no excuses about being tired.

"These guys aren't on my level, I've gone up another notch since spanking [Brian] Minto in March," he said.

"They can talk as much as they want but when reality kicks in and they are standing across the ring from me - they don't really want to be there," Adesanya said.

Although he's now based on the Gold Coast, Porter reiterates he's a Kiwi through and through.