Lewis Connelly says fighting in front of a home crowd in East Kilbride is a dream come true, but has aspirations of landing a title fight towards the end of this year.
The 24-year-old takes on Sheffield’s Paul Scaife in Gladiators II at PlaySport on Saturday in what is only his second professional fight with St Andrew’s Sporting Club.
Connelly expects a tough fight from his 33-year-old opponent, but aims to show what he can do to the home crowd, and a live BBC Scotland audience.
Having defeated Jacob Marrer on points in the previous Gladiators event at Caledonia Gladiators’ arena, Connelly is looking for more.
“I don’t know much about Paul, but I know he’s going to be tough,” admits Connelly. “He’s a tough guy, but I’m sure ‘ll be able to show my skills and show there’s levels to it.
“The fight being on the BBC is massive – I’ll need to get my hair fixed for that!”
Connelly added: “It was a great night, the first one. I’m feeling good and ready to have another good night like that again. I’m buzzing.
“Fighting in East Kilbride was a dream come true for me. It’s something you always dream about, that you fantasise about when you’re younger, so to do that so early in my career, I’m really lucky.
“A title shot is our plan for towards the end of this year, maybe even the start of next. I’m just building my record just now.
“I need to get more experience, and then aim for the title.”
Connelly has made sacrifices to focus on his fledgling career, but says boxing has pretty much saved him.
“I started boxing when I was 11 years old,” he said. “I had my first fight, then. I wasn’t much of a football player, I really struggled with team sports like that, so I went into boxing and fell in love with it.
“My dad thought I’d never stick to it, for some reason, but I’ve proved a few people wrong.
“I’m happy with how things have gone, and the direction in my life. Boxing is my whole life, I put everything into it. I gave up everything else outside, so my full focus is on boxing, and that’s been the case for the last couple of years.
“Without boxing, I don’t think I’d be the person I am today. Maybe I would have fell into bad habits, or got into trouble, possibly, if I didn’t have this to keep me focused and grounded.
“It’s my purpose, so I’ve got to do it.”
Connelly is dreaming of taking on a title fight down the road, but for now is focusing on his PlaySport showdown.
“A title fight would mean everything to me,” he said. “It’s really part of the process in boxing. You want to start off where you’re at, get some experience and then go into some harder fights, get titles, and see where it takes you.
“I’ve got some good support for this one. It’s right on their doorstep, so they’ve got no excuse not to come!”