Ricky Boylan insists his loss to Tyler Goodjohn last month was not a huge career setback and he is already planning a rematch.
The Carshalton fighter dropped a majority decision to Goodjohn for the English light-welterweight title, but will be back in the ring on January 31 fighting Tommy Martin for the same belt – vacant because Goodjohn is fighting for the WBC International light welterweight title on the same night – at the O2 Arena.
While that first career defeat still grinds with Boylan, he highlights that his desire for revenge is not shifting his focus from his fight with Martin.
“I think further down the line, I definitely want the rematch with Tyler Goodjohn,” he said.
“Obviously, I’m focused on my fight in January, I’m not looking past Tommy Martin, but that’s a fight I want further down the line to put things right.
“It’s a setback but I don’t think it’s serious because of the nature of the fight. It was a close fight, one judge had it a draw, two had it 96-94 so there wasn’t a lot in it. The main thing is that I’ll learn from it and come back a better fighter.”
Looking back on that night, Boylan is aware of what went wrong for him but does not cite problems outside the ring as the reasons for his loss.
“I split with my trainer three weeks before the fight. It was amicable but I wasn’t in a position to stay with him so I had to change trainer,” he said.
“I moved to Manchester for three weeks with Jamie Moore and Nigel Travers. Obviously, it’s not ideal changing that close to what was the biggest fight of my career to date.
“I didn’t stick to my game plan as well as I should have. I had a lot of change before the fight, but no excuses, Tyler beat me on the night and that’s all that matters.
“He went home with the English belt and I’ve got to make sure it comes home with me at the end of January.”
After Goodjohn vacated the English title, Boylan now has the opportunity to fight for it again and sees it as a chance to bring him a step closer to challenging for the coveted British title.
He said: “I just want to be in the British title mix. I’m probably one or two fights away from that, Eddie Hearn [Boylan’s promoter] has given me a big opportunity to stay in the mix and I’ve just got to grab it with both hands and give it everything I’ve got.”
Across the ring from him in that opportunity will be Martin, undefeated in 10 professional fights but six years Boylan’s junior at 20 years old, which could prove an important factor.
“He’s a good boxer but I don’t think he’s strong at the weight, I don’t think he’s matured yet,” said Boylan.
“I think this fight is a little bit too early for him. I just believe I’ll be too strong for him.
“This is a perfect fight for me and I think it’s a good opportunity to bounce back and I think I’ll look good in beating him. I can’t wait.”
Image of Ricky Boylan, right, and Tommy Martin, courtesy of iFL TV, via YouTube, with thanks
