The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Southpaw to come out fighting after title loss
BOXING: Kean prepares to rebuild as he hopes for showdown in home town
In the aftermath of his defeat to Hamzah Sheeraz, Dundonian boxer Paul Kean is vowing to come back the only way he knows how – fighting.
The 27-year-old southpaw was disappointed to go down to the Englishman in the sixth round of his WBO European super welterweight title bid.
It was a tough night for Kean, outclassed by undefeated champion Sheeraz live on BT Sport – however he insists it is not the end for him.
The 12-2-0 fighter’s eyes are now firmly fixed on a title bout and home-town show at the Caird Hall in the coming months.
“I think I need to drop a level slightly and just rebuild from there,” the Scottish champion said.
“It was maybe just a bit too soon for me but I think I can get up there. This is definitely not the end for me. I’ll hopefully get a big fight or a title fight in the Caird Hall and then push into next year.
“An opportunity to go for the British title could be there. If I get another couple of wins under my belt and, even with that defeat, I’m still in the top 20 so the fights will be there.
“I just need to grow back into them again and take the right fights now.
“My next goal is to have a big fight, maybe an international fight, in Dundee come the end of the year or the start of next year – I’d love to do that.”
Kean admits he has a long way to go to reach the desired level and says he will now take some time out to assess his own camp.
He continued: “I’ve got to change a few things in my camp. There’s a few mistakes I’ve been making and then I’ll come back at the end of the year.
“I need to look at my weight cut, my diet and things like that. I’m going to bring somebody like a sports nutritionist on board because it’s just not working out for me at the moment.
“I need to get a bit more sparring in as well. Obviously, it was difficult this time because of the coronavirus but I need to travel a bit more for sparring.
“I only had something like five spars building up to the fight and, really, that’s not enough. That was evident on Friday.
“I’ll need to up my strength and conditioning as well because it’s been hard not being able to work with my coach on that through the last camp. I just need to reassess everything a wee bit.”
With child number three on the way and a new Skyaxe Gym opening in the city, Kean says he’ll be kept busy away from the ring until his return.
He added: “My wife Jojo is pregnant so
I’m not going to fight until the end of the year now. I just need to take a bit of time with the wife and kids (Paul and Saul) to chill.
“I’ve just opened up a new gym on Brook Street so I’m trying to get that off the ground as well.”
As for Sheeraz, Kean is predicting a big future in the sport, admitting the 21-year-old was a cut above.
Asked if his opponent can go on to be a world champion, Kean quipped: “Well I hope so after that!
“He’s definitely going to be one to watch – 100%. I didn’t think he was that good until I got in the ring.
“He’s so big, even watching him on Facebook or YouTube it doesn’t do justice how big he is. I just think whatever I’d done he’d have the answer for it.
“He’s maybe just a wee bit out of my league at the moment. It’s just one of those things. I’ll come back at the end of the year and rebuild. Hopefully, I’ll get another few big fights.
“You’ve got to take these chances. The original fight was at the O2, it was on BT Sport and that’s the sort of stuff you want to go for. He just had my number, basically. After that knockdown in the first round I never really got back into the fight.
“I was kind of hesitant after that and it was a case of just trying to survive.”