He’s had to show the patience of a saint to wait for his fourth professional appearance.
But once number four is done and dusted in London this weekend Cyrus Pattinson has his sights firmly set on the championship picture.
The 28-year-old will have his hardest fight yet at the 02 on Saturday evening when he meets unbeaten Frenchman Dimitri Trenel over eight rounds.
You can’t blame the undefeated Northumberland welterweight for wanting to get on the front.
He had been scheduled to box Alexey Tukhtarov over eight rounds last month at the Manchester Arena where Conor Benn hammered Chris van Heerden as the headline act on Matchroom’s show.
Frustratingly, his Russian opponent failed a medical, leaving the former GB amateur international kicking his heels.
But, thankfully, Trenel looked a picture of health at today’s weigh-in for a show in which the mother of South London derbies between Joshua Buatsi and Craig Richards takes centre-stage.
It’s a great fight though for Pattinson against the 23-year-old, from France, who has reeled off eight wins as a pro, four inside the distance.
“I definitely feel like I’m transitioning to the pros now,” said the southpaw, who is trained by his former coach at Birtley ABC, Graeme Rutherford.
“I want to have one more fight at eight rounds and then I think I’m ready
“I’ve had two opponents pull out but this lad has had eight fights and eight wins.
“This is a good fight for me.”
It certainly looks that way.
Pattinson’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, spoke last month about how he wanted the talented Alnwick boxer to be getting up into title contention this summer.
Saturday’s contest is an opportunity to set a marker s well as the bury the disappointment of the late, late collapse of the bout with Tukhtarov, who had been his olds Birtley ABC team-mate Joe Laws in Newcastle in March.
Pattinson though says he has remained positive and goes into the show in the capital in good nick.
“It is deflating,” he admitted. “But you’ve just got to dust yourself off and carry-on.
“Ive had more training camps than fights but if I make it to the ring this time I’ll be happy.
“When you cannot control what happens in a situation, you have to control how you respond and that’s all I’ve been trying to do, staying positive.
“I’ve got a great team behind me.”
Pattinson’s career began last June in Newcastle, where he stopped Bulgaria’s Yoncho Markov inside two rounds.
He followed that up with two six-round points successes, against Romania’s Dumitru Vicol in Barcelona and Evgenii Vazem, from Russia, in London.
Trenel is five bouts further forward than Cyrus, winning each of his eight contests, including four inside the distance.
Pattinson-Trenel will be shown live on Matchroom’s YouTube channel ahead of the DAZN broadcast which gets under way at 7pm.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
