By David Nagel
Undefeated Clyde boxer Stephanie Lee Cutting is fit and firing and ready to bring down her biggest opponent yet after recently locking in a shot at the Australian Featherweight title on Saturday 5 October.
Already a title-holder in two weight divisions, Cutting will look to add a third belt to her growing collection against current champion Jaala Tomat at the Westend Hotel in Sunshine.
“It’s where I debuted, and now where I’m going to take the biggest scalp of my career,” a beaming and positive Cutting said.
The former Berwick and Cranbourne footballer had her first professional bout on 17 March last year, and claimed her first title-belt with a third-round knock-out of Fijian Maureen Chand to claim the WBF Australasian Lightweight title in mid-December.
She then continued her phenomenal rise up the ranks by claiming the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) Super Featherweight championship at Melbourne Pavilion on May 31 this year.
Cutting’s unanimous points-decision win over former champion Pam McClelland took her professional record to 6-0 after an extraordinary first year in the pro-ranks.
A shoulder injury briefly interrupted her training; but it’s now handle-bars down – fully motivated – as she prepares for the biggest challenge of her career.
“I’m rapt, stoked: my coaches can see I’m smiling a lot more, having fun, my boxing IQ is building, and it’s good to be able to focus on the task ahead instead of worrying about locking the fight in,” she said.
“My promoter Joe Demicoli has done a great job of bringing it all together, and my management team has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.
“It’s very exciting, because we’ve known for a couple of months what was coming up but it’s only just been announced and locked in which is all very exciting.
“It makes it all feel a little bit more real now, which is good.
“Now we’ve locked in the fight; it’s full on towards October 5 from here.”
Cutting’s preparation for the fight will be a little different this time around, with her coach Blake Caperallo preparing for his own enormous bout on September 14.
“He (Caperallo) will come back for the last couple of weeks to oversee the final preparations, and I’ll still represent Il Capo Boxing, but I’ve been working with coach Luke Bones, who is well known and well respected in the boxing industry,” Cutting explained.
“It’s been very education; my IQ is growing all the time and the training has been great.
“Everyone has room to grow, but he (Bones) said what I’m good at I’m very good at, but he’s going to add a few extra tools into the tool belt, so come fight night everyone will see a new and improved Stephanie Lee-Cutting.”
The power-hitter said she is feeling fitter and healthier than any stage in her career.
“I’m feeling great, I’ve got no injuries at all; I’m absolutely flying, which is good,” she said.
“It’s weird, it’s been the hardest camp to date but it almost feels like the easiest because I’m injury free and it’s all falling into place nicely.
“I’m training every day, two to three times a day.
“I’ve added a new conditioning coach, who is overseeing my running, there’s one on ones with Luke (Bones), and I’m in the gym with girls who, in my opinion, are the best of the best in Victoria.
“The sparring rounds have been amazing; they’ve been pushing me…and it’s definitely the best camp to date.
“It’s just been really enjoyable.”
Cutting said there were initial concerns about dropping from Super Featherweight (58.97kg) to Featherweight (57.15kg) and losing significant power; but those fears have been allayed by careful planning.
“I’ve been preparing for it for the past couple of months with my new nutritionist, Simone, so my energy has been good, my weight’s dropping, so we won’t have to do any drastic weight cuts come fight night,” she explained.
“My coach was really adamant about not losing my power with the weight drop, but we’ve adjusted my strength and conditioning and we haven’t lost anything…just the weight…so it’s been good.”
Cutting said she only occasionally lets her mind wander to what being a title holder across three separate weight divisions might look like.
“My mindset is I will win at all costs, no matter what, but I do have my moments where I think; this is a really big deal,” she confessed.
“But then I remind myself that I have worked hard and deserve this; and think I would represent Australian boxing really well; I’ve done the hard work, and that belt belongs on my shoulder.
“I 150-percent believe in myself and my abilities and I know that when the times get rough, I always find a way to win.
“I’m just excited now; can’t wait for the fight to come along.”
And what might that future look like if she does knock Tomat to the canvas?
“I can’t say too much, but it would kick open a very big door for my career and open up so many options as well,” she said.
“I would become a three-weight-division champion, so I could go back to Super Featherweight, stay at Featherweight, so it’s very exciting what the future holds.”
She said she can’t wait to put on a great performance for her much-appreciated supporters on fight night.
“I can’t wait to put on a show and show off all the hard work that has taken place over the last few months,” she said.
“My supporters, and whoever comes along, will see a very exciting fight, and they’re going to be seeing a whole new Stephanie Lee-Cutting.”
Cutting wanted to thank Monique and EJ, who have worked very hard behind the scenes to get this fight locked in; and her partner, family and team for their unwavering support.
