LEE McALLISTER, the World Boxing Union lightweight title-holder from Aberdeen, has reacted positively to a taunt from the Irishman Michael Gomez that he will end the Scot's reign as champion.

Gomez has vowed to make McAllister his fourth Scottish ring victim when the pair meet at Aberdeen's Exhibition and Conference Centre on March 22 after bragging: "No Scotsman alive can beat me. None of them has the bottle for a start."

Gomez beat Ayrshire's Ian McLeod and the Glaswegian Craig Docherty before claiming his most famous win over a Scot, Alex Arthur in October 2003. Arthur was stopped inside five rounds at Meadowbank as he suffered his only defeat and the loss of his British super-featherweight title, leaving some to suggest that he has not been the same since.

McAllister, 25, who has only recently recovered from a chest and throat virus, will not be caught out like Arthur when he comes face to face with his 30-year-old opponent.

McAllister said yesterday: "Gomez is a tough kid and I know he will come to make a fight of it. But while he will undoubtedly prove difficult, I will take him apart piece by piece in the same way that I picked off Craig Docherty.

"I have worked too hard to get my hands on a world title to let it slip the first time I defend it, so any one expecting Gomez to add yet another Scottish victim to his list will be sorely disappointed."