Success to sweeten life for bitter Mercer

DOWN-BUT-NOT-OUT American heavyweight Ray Mercer says his career should be used as an example to other fighters of how badly things can go wrong.

An Olympian in 1988 and WBO champion in 1991, Mercer is now three days away from a daunting non-title bout with Briton Frank Bruno, yet he confesses to being totally unprepared and a sitting duck for Bruno.

His training has been hampered by a leg injury leaving him 20 pounds over his ideal weight. He delayed his arrival in Hong Kong until two days ago which he admits was totally inadequate for acclimatising after doing all his training in the colder climes of New Jersey.

On top of all that Mercer feels totally deserted by his manager Jack Dell, who is not in the territory with him. And he is generally deflated by the long downhill slide his career has taken since 1991. Last year Mercer, a 33-year-old former army sergeant, was acquitted in court after being accused of trying to bribe Jesse Ferguson during a fight which Mercer lost.

'It all started to go wrong from the morning after I won the world title against Tommy Morrison,' said a morose Mercer in his hotel room yesterday.

'I was champion of the world and it should have been the start of great times for me. Instead, my manager was sacked and things have never been the same since.' Mercer and two other fighters belong to a company called Greater American and it was that company that dispensed with the former manager Mark Roberts the morning after the fight.

Roberts was replaced by Dell who had no experience managing fighters.