Looking good and looking forward to rapid progress.
That is unbeaten North-East prospect Cyrus Pattinson and his promoter Eddie Hearn in strictly that order.
Pattinson makes his fourth appearance as a professional on Saturday night when he fights Alexey Tukhtarov over eight rounds at the Manchester Arena where Conor Benn meets Chris van Heerden as the headline act on Matchroom’s show.
Cyrus looked a million dollars at the media conference in the Stoller Hall in the centre of Manchester and will be looking to do the same inside the ring.
The welterweight, from Alnwick, who turned 28 last week has been stepped up to eight rounds on the DAZN-screened show after three straight wins in six-rounds.
It is an early promotion and, by way of a comparison, unbeaten Campbell Hatton, appearing on the same card, is still on six rounds for his seventh contest.
Hearn told the media how he’d love to see Pattinson moving up to 10 rounds in the summer to get among the picture for English and British championship contention.
That shows the ambition of the world’s number one promoter for the former GB Boxing fighter.
Pattinson explained that the increase in distance is a key development in his career.
“It’s all about getting the rounds in,” said the boxer who is trained by his old Birtley ABC coach, Graeme Rutherford.
“From going from three rounds [as an amateur] straight into sixes and now straight into eights is a big jump.
“Rounds are what matters to help you get to that level to start competing for titles.
“How my record looks bothers us, we want the wins and knockouts, but obviously it’s the rounds that matter the most.”
He is likely to get them too against the experienced Russian, one of quite a group of boxers from that part of the world listed as being from Southampton!
You need to look beyond Tukhtarov’s record, which stands at at 5-28-6.
Like compatriot Rustem Fatkhullin (who has fought three unbeaten North-East prospects Calum French, Adam Cope and Thomas Hodgson as part of an extended UK tour), Tukhtarov will be having his eighth bout in 10 weeks on UK soil.
Last month, he upset the odds in Newcastle, where he defeated Pattinson’s former Birtley team-mate Joe Laws over six rounds.
This reporter had it all square on his card, but the score that mattered was 58-57 for judge John Latham.
While Tukhtarov appeared too be short on power, accuracy was not an issue as he landed crisp clean shots to take victory.
But Pattinson’s confidence is high, gained from the amount of work he’s put in at the gym since joining the professional ranks.
“I know Tukhtarov’s very durable,” said Cyrus, who weighed in at 148.8lbs with Alexey on the scales at 152.1lbs.
“I’ve not really stopped since April last year, no longer than a week off from the gym.
“It’s about building up that momentum, getting more and more relaxed every fight and that’s when you’ll see the best Cyrus Pattinson.”
The Northumberland boxer began his career in Newcastle last June, when he blitzed Bulgaria’s Yoncho Markov inside two rounds, before back-to-back six-round points successes, against Romania’s Dumitru Vicol in Barcelona and Evgenii Vazem, from Russia, in London.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
