OLDHAM’s Mark Heffron is looking to return to action with a bang on Saturday night when he defends his British super middleweight title.
The 31-year-old takes on Bolton’s Jack Cullen on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jnr’s eagerly-anticipated rematch with Liam Smith at theAO Arena in Manchester
Heffron - nicknamed Kid Dynamite - is stepping back in to the ring for the first time in nearly a year since beating Martin Ezequiel Bulacio last September.
He was due to defend his title against Zak Chelli in July but had to pull out due to injury.
But Heffron, who trains at Champs’ Camp in Manchester under the watchful eye of Joe Gallagher, is now raring to go and he looks to defend a title he won last July when he beat Lennox Clarke at the Copper Box Arena - where he also claimed the Commonwealth Super Middleweight and the Intercontinental belts.
“My feelings for this fight are that I’m feeling very excited and ready, it’s a fight I’m really looking forward to,” said Heffron.
“There is some pressure as I’m defending my British title and I want to make sure I bring the title back home.”
Heffron admitted he was ‘gutted’ to have to pull out of his first defence after being hampered with a hamstring injury.
“I was struggling to walk and train in the boxing gym with the injury so we had to call the fight off,” he said. “I rested the hamstring and got in with a really good physio called JPR Sports Therapy in Rochdale and he got me right a lot sooner that I thought.
“I was very disappointed and gutted as I put a lot of hard work into that camp, but everything happens for a reason and everything has fallen into place nicely now.”
The title fight will be live on Sky Sports Boxing and Heffron knows he will be under extra scrutiny being the defending champion - but he believes he is fully prepared for the challenge and attention.
He said: “Training has been going really well, I’ve been training extra hard as always and been getting plenty of the right sparing for Jack, so I feel I’m leaving no stones unturned.
“What is different about the fight? Well, it’s my first defence and it’s a big fight that has got a lot of attention.”
And that attention will not phase Heffron as he says he is feeling ready and confident he will retain his title.
He also thanked his coach Joe Gallagher and the rest of his team as he prepares for one of his most talked about fights of the year.
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