Connor Coyle puts Cash controversy behind him as he aims for 18-0 this Sunday

It has arguably been the toughest few weeks of his career, but Connor Coyle must put it all behind him as he prepares to defend his NABA Middleweight title this Sunday night in Florida.

Just two months ago, Coyle was readying himself for the biggest fight of his career at the O2 Arena in London, set to go up against Felix Cash in a battle of the unbeaten middleweights. It was everything Connor had dreamed of; 20,000 fans, an international TV audience, and the chance to build his fanbase further closer to home. But it was all taken away from him at the last minute when a drug test on Conor Benn showed traces of a fertility drug. Benn was not given permission to continue with his scheduled fight with Chris Eubank Junior and the whole card was pulled, leaving Coyle and his team devastated.

“It took a few days to settle in and to actually realise that it wasn’t happening. I couldn’t believe it,” he reflected. “The whole team was there in London and we had flown from Florida which is hallway across the world really so for the whole thing to be cancelled was just crazy.

“We had to do pre-check weigh in, so I made the weight on the Wednesday and we were getting ready for the press conference on the last day and just before the official weigh-in and we literally got a phone call to say they had to hold a meeting, then they jut told everybody the fight was cancelled. Nobody knew what was happening, or who to see, or even if we were getting paid or getting something, but we got nothing.

“It hurt, but it’s boxing and you just have to keep moving forward because big opportunities will come again.”

For Coyle (17-0), the show must go on however, and he is now set for his fourth fight of 2022 when he meets Bosnian Sladan Janjanin (34-13) this Sunday night. Adjusting to a new opponent was always going to be difficult given the circumstances.

“It was definitely hard to adjust,” he admitted. “I came back from London and took a few days off. I kept myself fit, I was still doing my roadwork and in the gym with Cahair the odd time. We didn’t think we would get anything towards the end of the year, we thought it would be the New Year, but thank God I did keep myself in shape because the opportunity did come to fight here in Orlando just before Christmas. We’re ready for that now. I’m defending my belt on Sunday and it’s a big fight and I have to treat it like a huge fight. I need to win it to keep climbing up the world rankings because I want to be number seven in the world after Christmas.”

Progressive

Despite the Cash controversy, 2022 has been a progressive year for the 32-year-old, and a victory on Sunday would put him in very good shape heading into another New Year.

“Every fight is more important than the other,” he agreed. “I still want to keep this undefeated record and I want to keep climbing the rankings, so every fight is important. After this fight now, if we have to hold back for a few months we will, but I’ll keep coming to camp here in Florida and keep myself ready, because everything after this fight is us going big.

“I’m happy enough with everything other than what happened in London. I’ve had four fights in a year; I won the NABA belt in May and I’m defending it now in December, I broke into the world top ten, and I should be number seven in January once I defend the belt on Sunday.”

Sponsors

Connor would like to thank the following sponsors for their continued support: The Bentley Group Bars, KSK Rathmor Engineering, Indigo Interiors NY, The Alvin Public House, Phones Connect, Classique Floor Designs, The Celtic Bar, That Prize Guy, The Sooty Olive, Ace Blinds, Curley Cars, Paul’s Butchers, Martin Heaney (Classic Bistro), HQM Fitness, Brookland Fencing.