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Home » Marcus Kelly raring to go ahead of pro debut on July 30

Marcus Kelly raring to go ahead of pro debut on July 30

The 26-year-old Truro native makes his paid debut on Western Country Promotions’ July 30th Summer Sizzler show at Plymouth Guildhall.

And Kelly is relishing a new start after becoming disillusioned with life as an amateur.

“I had 16 amateur fights and won 10 of them,” he told www.uko-boxing.com. “I’ve always been in the game since I was young but it was getting a bit too serious and they wanted too much commitment out of me so I decided to turn pro.

I never really felt properly managed as an amateur because the guys I was with didn’t have enough to take me to the next level. Now I’m with Carl Robson in Plymouth, he can take me to that next level.

“The pro ranks are serious but in a different way. The training is really good. It’s a whole different ball game. I think if I’d been doing this sort of training in the amateurs, my record would have been better.

“Maybe I didn’t take it seriously enough and perhaps my social life got in the way. But the guys I was fighting were being trained professionally which I didn’t know. Their standard was a lot higher than I’d been told and if I’d known that, I would have taken it more seriously myself.

“It was a lack of information which cost me in big fights. One of those, for example, was against Tom Welch, the son of Scott Welch, the former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. Tom fought for England and stuff. I only knew this afterwards.”

Kelly added: “They are harsh lessons but you have to learn from them.

“It’s now a case of no drinking and no partying. I’m seven months clean and sober and I’m raring to go. I’m aiming for the top and seeing how it goes.

“I’m not going to be a journeyman. If fights aren’t going my way I may knock it on the head because I’m in it to make a name for myself, not to be a journeyman who does it for the money.

“I’ve got a kid on the way in September too, so 2016 is a serious year for me.”

Plymouth fighters – lightweights, Chris Adaway and Des Newton and super middleweight, Cristian Hoskin-Gomez, are also in action.

There’s a battle of Devon as Plymouth’s Ross Roberts look set to take on Exeter’s Faheem Khan at welterweight.

As well as Kelly, Launceston bantamweight, Marcus Hodgson, is set for his professional debuts whilst Guernsey middleweight, Tom Duff, completes the card.

Tickets for Summer Sizzler are £30 or £50 Ringside and are available by calling: 07958 398 355. Doors open at 6:30pm with boxing commencing at 7:30pm at Plymouth Guildhall, Armada Way, Plymouth, PL1 2AA.