Razor Rae aims to wear British Challenge Belt
Bruiser aims to collar another trophy at clash in Lagoon
Boxer Gary Rae started the year with the win he dreamed off – but joked getting up for work the next morning was the stuff of nightmares.
Barrhead bruiser Rae was in action at the St Andrew’s Sporting Club’s annual Burns Night bash at the Radisson Blu in Glasgow last week as he prevailed in a points victory over his English counterpart, Craig Derbyshire.
The win took the super bantamweight to 6-0-0 in his professional career, with title shots now at the back of his mind for the end of the year.
But one thing is for sure, Rae won’t be letting himself get carried away, with the down-to-earth 29-year-old returning to his day job as a painter and decorator the following morning.
“I was straight back at work the next day,” Rae laughed, “I was up at 8am and back to the grind. I hardly had any sleep.
“I just couldn’t switch off after the fight. I spent half the night sitting up eating. Never mind the fight, I overdid it on the donuts – there was no way I was getting to sleep after eating them.
“But the alarm was set and I was back at it the following day. There was no taking any time off anyway.”
The victory sees Rae carry his form into the new year, with past wins over the likes of Jose Aguilar and Luis Espinosa catching the attention of the boxing public.
And he revealed that he felt comfortable in the victory – despite being slightly disappointed that he was unable to strike a knockout blow.
Rae said: “I felt that it was comfortable in the end. My coach Mark Breslin was praising me so I must have done well.
“I started the fight well but he came back into it a little bit in the second half of the fight. It was probably hard to score because he was starting the rounds well and I was the one finishing strongly.
“If it was favourable towards him then I knew that I had to finish the final round well.
“It turned out to be my best round, I rocked him a couple of times with a few big shots. I just couldn’t finish him off.
“But my fitness felt great. I had been working with Gayle Brannigan a lot at Pro- Life in the run up to the fight and honestly she has worked wonders. I felt a lot fitter in general but in the ring I felt like I could have gone another few rounds.
“I would definitely have finished the fight if it had gone on any longer. I was feeling fresh while he was on the back foot for the majority of the final round.”
Rae will now return to the ring on March 3, where he will fight for a British Challenge Belt at the Paisley Lagoon,
The eight round fight will be two more than he is used to – but he insists that he has no fear ahead of the bout.
It will be a quick turnaround for Razor Rae, with promoter Iain Wilson approaching him after the win over Derbyshire to set up the clash.
And Rae was delighted to accept the offer as the aims to make 2018 a year to remember.
He added: “It is an eight-round challenge fight and I am really looking forward to it.
“It is just a minor title but it would be a great morale booster if I was able to pull it off.
“It would be another step on the ladder, another push towards that belt that I am after.
“Eight rounds will do me good, and hopefully it will be another trophy to put alongside my amateur ones.”
Gary would like to thank Jim Price from Acre Industrial Services for his ongoing support.
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