Worksop’s Declan Cairns marches on unbeaten
Declan Cairns (4-0) made up for almost two years of inactivity by winning his second fight in two months to move up to 4-0 on November 20 at the North Notts Arena.
Boxing in his hometown of Worksop, in the East Midlands, the unbeaten southpaw defeated George Rogers (0-1-1) 40-37 on points on a Boxing Connected event.
Trained by Michael White and Daz Medcalf, Cairns fought perfectly to jab his way to victory against his 26-year-old opponent from Whetstone.
The 24-year-old was pleased with his performance, “It went well; he was running off a bit and I found him trickier than most, one minute he was there and one minute he was gone, but I kept him at bay because he definitely came to win.
“I kept him at range with my jab, I seemed to catch him a lot with a left uppercut down the middle – it’s a tricky one but a good shot when you land.”
Cairns fought twice in 2019 to kickstart his pro career, which was then abruptly placed on hold due to COVID, but he has now managed to fight in September and November this year to end 2021 with four victories in total.
A bricklayer by trade, Cairns shared his activities during the various lockdown, “I stayed in the gym during lockdown so all the hard work I put in is showing off now. I worked on my boxing, working on technique rather than fitness, so I feel like my boxing has come on leaps and bounds because of the time I spent in gym during COVID.
“I had around 22 months of inactivity before I fought in September, and at one point I thought I’m not going to box again at this rate, so I’m just grateful to be back in there, and I’ve done well to get two fights in. At the start of the year I would have written this year off completely, but I’ve been keeping positive; it’s all out of our hands so can’t do anything about, so either get on with or moan about it; that’s how I looked at it.
“I’m lucky to be as young as I am, I missed out on two years, but used it to my advantage.”
After almost two years of dormancy between bouts number two and three, Cairns is now keen to push on in his career, he confirmed, “I’ve enjoyed my last two fights, it’s just good to be back to normality. I think I’m going to step my rounds up into a six-rounder next. I only had seven amateur fights, so I’m learning on the job.”
Declan started boxing aged 10 at Manton ABC in Worksop, but was in and out of the gym often and only managed to compete in seven amateur bouts.
He dropped out of boxing completely at the age of 16 after suffering a family bereavement, when he completely lost interest in boxing and “Weren’t bothered about it,” he said in his own words.
He also said, “That’s one thing I regret; I wish I had a few more amateur fights, but my style suits pro better than amateur anyway and it was always a dream when I was young to turn professional.
Currently competing at super-welterweight, he aims to challenge for titles down a division at welterweight when the time comes.
“Looking at titles, I think I’ll compete at welterweight, especially with the day before weigh-in, and I’ll get a nutritionist on board too. In my fight before last, I was 10st 11”, so I could 100 per cent make welterweight.
“Just want some titles around my waist, regardless of what they are, and just to see how far I can go. I’ve been sparring with Jimmy Joe Flint, so I know I can mix it with them, just got to keep doing what I’m doing and building up the rounds.”
Cairns’ sparring partner James Flint fought for the Central Area welterweight title on the undercard of Kid Galahad vs Kiko Martinez this month, but lost to Dom Hunt on points.
Cairns then looked ahead to his next fight, “Looking at March next year, hoping so anyway. After my last fight in September, I was back in the gym on the Monday, but I’ve had nearly a week off after this fight.”
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