FORMER British lightweight champion Scott Cardle will return to the ring on October 7 at the Manchester Arena, as he looks to put to rest the demons from his last performance which saw him lose the Lonsdale belt in his final scheduled defence to Robbie Barrett in April.
Cardle, 21-1-1 with 7KO’s, came out on the losing side of a majority decision, denying him the opportunity to leave with the British title for keeps, however a below par “Scotty” was stunned in front of his Glasgow crowd by an excellent performance from the underdog Barrett.
The 27-year-old puts his poor night down to a lack of preparation which he admits came back to bite him and his first defeat as a pro will be an opportunity to show what he really can do with the rematch with Barrett and claiming the British title at the forefront of his mind.
Cardle said, “Losing to Barrett was horrible to take, especially because I only had to make one more defence and the belt would have been mine to keep. I have to show how much I want it now and I’ve got to work hard to come back as a totally different animal.
“I was slow on the night and it’s down to me why I lost that fight. If anything, I beat myself on the night and have been so much better, but credit where it is due to Robbie Barrett who excelled whereas I faltered. It’s a lesson learned though and I’ll take it on the chin, but I now know more than ever that I have to prepare better than I ever have before.
“I want to put the British title to bed now and get it outright. Me and Robbie are fighting on the same card in October, so all being well, we’ll both come through and he’ll do me the courtesy of giving me the rematch. I should have it already, but the rules got changed in terms of draws not counting, which was the only reason I took the fight in the first place.”
Cardle sees the defeat as nothing more than a hiccup and confirmed that he wants a final crack at the belt before moving up in levels, adding that the original plan was to try and secure a shot at the European title before Barrett ruined those plans.
He has also ensured us that there have been no side-effects from the suspected broken jaw he suffered in April and that he is hungry to get back in the ring and perform at the level that he believes he is capable of, starting with making a statement in Manchester on his return to action.
“This is simply a hiccup as far as I’m confirmed and I want to get back to the plan of going after the European. I want the British, but I may go down the Commonwealth route, which was never on my original agenda, but that’s the position I’m now in. But only if Sean Dodd holds the title will I actually consider it because I won’t fight Thomas Stalker as we’re very close friends.
“I’m fully fit and ready to go, whilst my jaw is fine as there was no real issue with it anyway. The doctor had a look and was surprised there was nothing wrong, but I went to the hospital anyway like they told me to. I waited two or three hours, but it’s Glasgow on a Saturday night, so I went home, didn’t see the need to go next morning and have had no issues since.
“This is a new experience for me since I turned over and rather than dwelling on it, I’m hungry to get back into the gym and the daily routine of training. It’s been easier than I thought, after taking the time off that I needed, as I really thought I would struggle with no clear motivation, but I’ve been stronger than ever and I’m going to make sure that this never happens to me again.”
