LUKE CAMPBELL has set his sights on fighting for the British lightweight title this year and avenging last December’s loss to Yvan Mendy.
“I’d love the British title. I’d like that belt. I think it’s a great route,” Luke said, after beating Gary Sykes for the Commonwealth title. “Again for my city of Hull, no one’s ever won it. So it would be nice to write history yet again, get both belts and then just keep moving on, pushing forward and picking up more belts down the line.
“I like the idea of the British and I like the idea that the British fighting fans can get involved with it as well. They know both sides of the fight and it just makes a good atmosphere. When I boxed Tommy Coyle in Hull, everybody, all the British boxing fans were buzzing about it and that’s what really gets me up for it.”
Campbell is expected to fight next in June. That could be for the British belt, although Scott Cardle is defending the title against Sean Dodd on Saturday in Liverpool. “If the money’s there I know Scotty Cardle would take the fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “Luke would take the fight as well, I have no problem matching guys together.
“That’s an option. Yvan Mendy is definitely an option and that’s a big headline fight in Hull I feel. I always felt before the Mendy fight we were three or four fights away from a world title and I still feel that now. We never really had aspirations of winning the British before. Maybe we were looking a bit too far ahead, because we were thinking about world titles.”
Hearn maintains Campbell can push towards a world title fight next year. “I know someone of Luke’s calibre, no disrespect to Gary Sykes, should be beating Gary Sykes but not necessarily like that. I think that was the most impressive thing about the victory tonight. If he had laboured to a win, maybe over 12 rounds it still would have been a good night’s work but it’s the way that he did it. He’s back to the sharp Luke Campbell, great feet, sharp counter-punching, all the things we know he’s so good at, fast hands,” Hearn continued.. “I think we need to, at some point, deal with that [Yvan Mendy] situation. But I think realistically in the next 12 months Luke Campbell will be ready for a world title. But it all depends who the world champion is. I’m sure he’d fancy fighting Anthony Crolla soon. But he’s working on things.”
