IT’S been a while, but Connor Lawrence is now just a day away from pulling on the gloves once more. The undefeated 22-year-old has been out of action for 14 months due to pullouts of opponents, injuries and cancellations.
On Saturday night, Lawrence will compete in his first-ever six-rounder as he looks to reignite his pro career.
“It’ll be more of a relief than anything else,” said the Bradford-born boxer. “It’s just a constant ongoing ballache, not boxing. I need to be busy, I just I enjoy being busy.
“The long periods in between [fights], I can’t do them. I’d rather me go box every weekend, it would be ideal.”
Lawrence takes on Chapman for the second time in his pro career. The two men last met in the summer of 2022, with the Bradford boxer winning the four-rounder on points.
Despite being out of the ring for over a year, Lawrence is not concerned about losing momentum.
“I don’t believe in ring rust,” he said. “I think it’s all in your head. At the end of the day, I enjoy having a fight, so what’s there to be nervous about. Half the time people get into their own heads and then they make themselves worse off it.
“The worst that could happen is that you’re going to get cracked. It’s not going to get no worse than that.”
When asked why he is finding it tough to find opponents, the youngster added: “I think it’s word of mouth of opponents.
“They speak to each other, so when it gets offered to certain people, they’ll go speak to other people I boxed, and then it’s normally word of mouth where I struggle to get the opponents.
“I used to get people a few years ago with 15-0 and 14-0 records and they’d still be boxing four rounders, so I’d say it’s more of a word-of-mouth thing and ability.”
Lawrence and Chapman will go head-to-head this Saturday at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford.
