Luke who’s on his way to pro gold

LUKE CAMPBELL is a young 31 in boxing terms, not too many miles on the clock and only two defeats, both by split decision to top-class fighters.

He was taking the fight to the great Jorge Linares down the stretch after being put down early last September and is a far better boxer now than he was in dropping a close one to Yvan Mendy three years ago.

Six weeks hence he has the opportunity to avenge that defeat on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua/ Alexander Povetkin bill in London.

I like what I have seen so far since Campbell linked up with my son Shane at the McGuigan Gym in Wandsworth.

He is a spiteful puncher, has very good spatial awareness and adjustment.

What he has to do is learn to tuck up and feel comfortable at short range. That will be a career-long project because tall, rangy fighters do not like to be crowded, they are not at ease in the pocket.

That showed in the first fight against Mendy when he allowed the Frenchman to close him down and bully him.

Campbell has really good feet and likes to keep you at distance. They are working on punch placement and accuracy, which is something he is already good at, and getting him to relax at close quarters.

The Linares fight showed Campbell’s potential. Don’t forget Linares had Vasyl Lomachenko over for the first time in his career. He is a truly great fighter.

The lightweight division is red hot. Campbell has a real chance to get amongst it and convert the potential that saw him win lightweight gold at the London Olympics, but he has to show that against Mendy.

Their first bout was only Campbell’s 13th as a pro.

It looked like he had not properly made the transition from the amateurs. He was missing the target, pulling out with his chin in the air and walking on to left hooks, typical of southpaws. Mendy dropped him with a solid, long left.

But he has improved since then, chalking up 18 wins, 15 by KO.

Shane will look to build on that, while shoring up the areas of vulnerability.

In rangy fighters that tends to be when they are pulling out of shots.

You can’t come out from a sequence of punches with your head in the air.

Campbell has already made great strides in that area, was coming on strong against Linares and is ready to turn that Olympic legacy into professional gold.