Focused, fit and fantastic. That is Tommy Ward.
OK, he’ll admit he’s not quite fighting fit (yet!) but two of the three Fs are not a bad prognosis for the unbeaten 26-year-old, who has a spring in his step again.
Ward has been out of action since the middle of October, after requiring two dozen stitches to repair the damage to a left eye badly cut by a clash of skulls with Thomas Essomba in their draw at Peterborough.
The Dave Garside and Neil Fannan star is, thankfully, now in stitches of a different kind.
Punch-lines caught up with Ward at Fannan’s gym where boxer and trainer laughed their way through a physical pad session during which both tried to bully each other.
It has to be said 2020 was a year of high frustration. Ward’s world super-bantamweight championship eliminator was postponed twice and then called off before he surrendered his 100 per cent career record in that bloody draw with late replacement Essomba but the gifted featherweight is smiling again.
“I’m so happy,” said Ward. “Last year was a bad year, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’ve had some fantastic talks with Dave Garside and the MTK team and I must give them a big shout-out because they have some great plans for me which I’m more than certain I’ll deliver.
“I’m happy in life, I’ve a beautiful wife and three beautiful kids, a great family and I’m happy in the gym.
“Me and Fanno have always got on well, but our relationship is probably the best it’s ever been, I’m really enjoying training. It’s extremely hard, as you’d expect from Neil, but it’s fun.
“Last year there were times I hated it. It didn’t help doing the training and having fights constantly put back but in 2020 I was doing other things outside the ring, boxing wasn’t my main thing.
“Given the postponements it was probably the only time in my boxing life, amateur or professional, that I wasn’t bothered about fighting, I didn’t care.
“Having had a break after my last fight I’m happy in life and happy to be back in the gym and now can’t wait for these big fights.”
While watching Ward and Fannan push each other around the Hartlepool trainer’s gym the iconic boxing anthem Eye of the Tiger is blaring out of the speaker.
On the subject of eyes, the world-rated Co Durham talent has had to tread carefully in the ring after the horrific cut which brought an early end to a fascinating ‘Thomas derby’ with old North-East neighbour Essomba.
“It was a nasty one, 24 stitches, 12 on the inside and 12 out,” explained the ex-British champion who has sparred with Jack Bateson recently.
“We’ve started sparring and we’ve had two spars so far and it’s been fine and we’ll keep testing it.
“I’d like a fight the end of April or start of May and that’ll be around six months so I think I’ll be good.”
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
