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Winning is everything, says Lambe

Looking forward: Andre Lambe trains at the new Forty Rego’s Boxing Gym at TN Tatem Middle School ahead of his professional debut on Saturday night(Photograph by Kyle McNeil)

Andre Lambe insists he is solely focused on winning rather than thrilling the crowd during his professional debut against Canadian Mat Hinchey at the Fairmont Southampton on Saturday.Lambe, who goes by the moniker “Showtime”, has become a home-town favourite after an entertaining amateur career, but says he is all about business when he faces Hinchey in a four-round super-lightweight contest.The southpaw admits he may have to slightly amend his eye-catching style in the paid ranks and said he had been going back to basics during his training camp.“‘Showtime’ doesn’t mean I’m going out there to be flashy,” Lambe said. “‘Showtime’ is just another side to me. If you know me outside of the ring, you’ll know I’m a different person, a humble person, and I probably don’t seem like a fighter. “But when I’m preparing to go into the ring and strapping up, I become a different person; that’s what ‘Showtime’ is all about.”Hinchey, who has fought once as a professional in mixed martial arts, defeating Bryston Jardine by technical knockout in 2017, will also be making his boxing debut on the undercard of Fight Night Champion. The New Brunswick native stepped in as a replacement for Jamie Quinn after talks with the English journeyman broke down two weeks ago.Despite the late switch, Lambe said he was unfazed by having to prepare for a different opponent and was used to last-minute changes during his amateur days.“We haven’t been in the pro ranks too long, so it doesn’t really affect me,” said Lambe, who won 11 of his 17 amateur bouts. “I was fighting as an amateur for a long time and you get changes all of the time. It’s something I’m used to. We’re just going to go out there and do what we need to do.”Lambe, 24, said his preparations at the new Forty Rego’s Gym at TN Tatem Middle School could not have gone better and revealed his team had been strengthened by the presence of Troy Darrell, who has been assisting head coach Varo Pelon Andrade.Darrell, a former middleweight title contender, has long been a regular face at Forty Rego’s Gym and often appeared in the corner during Nikki Bascome’s professional career.“I’m in good spirits, this has been a tremendous camp,” Lambe said. “I’ve stepped up a lot. I’ve got Troy Darrell helping out and he’s a big inspiration to me. It’s made me even more motivated to be a lot better in this fight. I’ve been tightening up on a lot of things that I’ve wanted to in the past. “At Forty Rego’s Gym, we’ve always trained to fight as professionals, so there hasn’t been that much change.” During the build-up to his final amateur outing in November, Lambe endured a health scare when he received a misdiagnosis of a brain tumour.He was left stunned when informed two days before his bout that an MRI scan had found an abnormality and was initially prevented from fighting against Portuguese Bruno Couto.A further scan later that day showed that there was no tumour, although Lambe was only given the all-clear to box a few hours before his contest.“I’m all good and everything has been cleared,” Lambe said. “That happened two days before my last fight, but this fight I’m level-headed and everything is clear. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”