BOURNEMOUTH, England – Lee Cutler believes his gymmate Adam Azim could be considered a pound-for pound star in the future.
Cutler boxes on Zuffa’s inaugural UK show in Bournemouth, against Aaron Sutton up at middleweight on Saturday night, in Cutler’s hometown.
The bill is topped by the cruiserweight bout between Chris Billam-Smith and Ryan Rozicki.
“Unbelievable performance,” Cutler, 15-2 (7 KOs), said of Azim defeating Steve Claggett in three rounds last weekend. “We see him in the gym and what he’s like every week and he’s just getting better. He’s so big and strong for the weight. I’m really looking forward to him hopefully picking up a world title soon.”
Does he think the gifted junior welterweight can get amongst the rankings as one of the world’s best fighters?
“Definitely, he’s got the size, he can fill into the weight if he does move up in weight eventually after getting a couple of super lightweight world titles, and he can move up and then he’ll be there, I believe it. As long as he stays focused and on the trajectory that he’s on it on, I think he will be.”
Cutler is trained by Josh Pritchard, who works alongside Shane McGuigan. The gym also boasts the likes of Malik Zinad, Ellie Scotney, and Caroline Dubois.
Cutler has not boxed since his disputed stoppage loss to Sam Eggington in April last year. He chased the rematch with the now-retired Eggington, and had been due to box in January but suffered a niggle in training and that fight was shelved.
“It’s been positive [having the time to learn in the gym] but I’m 30 now so I wanted to crack on,” he said. “I wanted to get that rematch which never happened, which was very frustrating for me at the time, but it’s just life. You get these obstacles chucked at you and everything happens for a reason and now I’m signed into Zuffa and they’ve promised me activity and with the other promotions, they promise you that activity. They want you to win and then you win and then you could be out again for another year or eight months or whatever. But in my contract with Zuffa, as long as I keep winning, they’re going to promise me activity and that’s what I want now – with my age.”
There is clearly a significant appeal for the security that Zuffa offers fighters in Cutler’s position.
As he makes his way through fight week, Cutler has been mightily impressed by the operation.
“Wow, it’s it is different level,” he added. “Like, the amount of people they’ve flown over here, it’s a proper little hub at the Hilton and it’s just a different level to any promotion that I’ve been around before.”
But, as he alluded to, he must keep winning to enjoy the benefits and that starts with Bristol’s Chris Sanigar-trained Aaron Sutton, 19-2 (3 KOs), who he faces on Saturday at the BIC
Cutler had heard little about Sutton before, only really the fact he’s a similar weight and doesn’t live too far away.
“I’ve heard good things about him,” said the Bournemouth man. “The only thing you can watch really online is the fight with George Liddard, which you can’t take much from because George is a very good fighter [Sutton was stopped in five rounds] – I’ve done lots of rounds with George myself – so I know he’s a very good fighter and he’s at the top of the domestic scene at middleweight. It’s my first fight in middleweight so it’s a good yardstick to see where I am in that division.”
Also on the Bournemouth bill is Irishman Stevie McKenna, who faces Casey James Streeter, and who incidentally lost a good fight to Cutler in December 2024 over 10 rounds.
“We don’t want to talk too much about him yet but there is a there’s a few whispers [about a rematch] but I’m focused on Saturday night first, because anything can happen in a fight,” Cutler added. “Everyone’s got two arms, two legs and a chin and anything’s possible.”
The two have consistently exchanged with one another on social media since their bout, keeping the flames of their feud alive.
Cutler, however, is delighted to be back fighting in front of his home fans having boxed on the road in Liverpool and Birmingham in his last two fights, and he knows that if his friend for the last couple of decades, Billam-Smith, is victorious, there is scope for them to keep building in Bournemouth.
He appreciates that Billam-Smith has a potentially tough fight ahead of him, though.
“For sure,” Cutler agreed of the main event. “I’ll never bet against Chris now. There’s a few times when I wasn’t in the gym and I didn’t see what he was like. I do know him from the amateurs and we were close as friends but I’ve never seen him day-to-day. He looks like he’s got a tough opponent. But I think Chris is too much and has been at this level far too long to allow someone like Ryan Rozicki to upset him.”
