Reuters - O'Neil Bell from Montego Bay, St. James celebrates after knocking out Jean-Marc Mormeck of France in the 10th round of their cruiserweight unification bout at New York's Madison Square Garden in January.

By GORDON WILLIAMS, Contributor

The late postponement of 'Superfighter', a single elimination boxing tournament between eight top heavyweights in a single night, has forced Jamaican-born world champion O'Neil Bell to turn his attention to a long-awaited rematch with Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck, who he knocked out earlier this year to unify the cruiserweight title.

"I'm not getting fed up, it's just part of the business," Bell said matter-of-factly yesterday, a couple days after learning from 'Superfighter' promoters that the tournament, which was scheduled for Australia on December 1 (local time) and would have given the winner a purse of more than $6 million, had been called off.

"But we have a Plan B. We have Mormeck."

mandatory defence

Montego Bay-born Bell, speaking from his home in Atlanta, United States, said he is now looking forward to the mandatory defence of his World Boxing Council (WBC) belt in January 2007, although no exact date or location has been set for the rematch. Eleven months ago, Bell dumped Mormeck in the 10th round at New York's Madison Square Garden to add the Frenchman's World Boxing Association (WBA) and WBC belts to his International Boxing Federation crown.

Bell, who normally trains to fight closer to 190 pounds, had bulked up considerably - to roughly 220 - in the hope of matching some of the world's top heavyweights in "Superfighter", including for world champions, Americans Chris Byrd and Oliver McCall. He claimed to be in peak physical and mental condition, after training for months under the guidance of wily American Plenty James, when he got the news of the postponement.

"I was right there," he said. "The skill preparation was going great. We were just fine tuning. My trainer was even telling me to take a couple days off as I was getting too sharp.

"Of course I'm disappointed ... Training and not being able to execute my talents."

why was it postponed?

It is not totally clear why the tournament was being postponed. Bell, 31, said he was told that some of the fighters could not secure valid travel documents in time to make the trip Down Under. He said 'Superfighter' is tentatively rescheduled for March 2007 and "it is still something I'd like to do."

However, the cruiserweight champion, who has not fought since the Mormeck bout, said he will now scale back his training - and weight - a bit, before stepping it up again when he is sure of the date for the rematch with the Frenchman.

The Jamaican is also becoming increasingly annoyed by what he thinks is the lack of recognition for his ring accomplishments and has repeatedly said he would step up full-time to heavyweight, if necessary, to establish his name.

"I'll fight anyone out there, even if I have to move up to heavyweight," said Bell, who has a ring record of 26 wins, 24 by knockout. "I definitely have to make a stand in this boxing business to get noticed."

Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.