Mark Heffron’s Polish double-header will get him right back in the middleweight mix, according to his manager.
The Oldham fight favourite will look to bounce back from his British title defeat in his rematch with Denzel Bentley – in which he picked up a nasty eye injury – with two wins on the continent in the coming months.
The 29-year-old, who has lost just two of his 28 fights, will face Bartek Grafka in Bytom on April 10 with Andrew Robinson also meeting Damian Jonak on the same night in the semi-finals of a mini-tournament.
The two winners will then square off in June with a world ranking title on the line and victory, in the eyes of Kevin Maree, would put his charge in a better position than if he had lifted the Lord Lonsdale belt in November.
“Denzel won’t fight Mark again, why would he? He’s dodged that bullet if you like so it’s just not going to happen and I don’t blame him,” Maree said.
“That title will be tied up for a while so we’ve had to look to go in a different direction.
“If Mark wins a world ranking title it puts us ahead of where we would have been anyway and we can always come back for the British at a later stage.
“But let’s get to where we want Mark to be and that’s competing for world level titles and that’s what this opportunity gives him, to get him where his abilities are, and that’s right at the top.”
Heffron will fancy his chances as he already holds victories over both Grafka and potential final opponent Robinson.
Maree is keen for his charge to make a statement and remind people of just what a threat he can be at 160lb despite how his last fight on the big stage panned out.
“Mark’s never whinged, complained or anything but as his manager I can say it,” he said. “People are almost forgetting the narrative here that I believe Mark won the first fight with Denzel Bentley and I’ve watched it so many times and still think that.
“In the second fight Mark didn’t get beaten on ability, it was an injury. It was a horrible one too and it changed everything.
“That’s boxing and full credit to Denzel Bentley but it wasn’t ability so Mark in our eyes has not lost anything in terms of where he will get to and where he should be.
“We’re still incredibly confident, we know the level Mark should be at and it’s our job to get him back there as quickly as we can.”
The fights from Poland are set to be live on Box Nation.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here