Craig MacIntyre can’t wait to return to the ring after a near 14-month absence when he faces Darren Surtees in an intriguing 140lbs match on MTK’s Fight Night at the LS-Live in Wakefield on August 11.
Like most, the Glaswegian’s career has been disrupted by the intervention of Covid-19, but he plans to make up for lost time against Durham’s Surtees (12-1, 8 KOs) who has only previously lost to the dangerous Mohamed Mimoune in a firefight.
“I’m buzzing to be back fighting, it’s been a long time coming because I’ve been out of the ring for over a year and that was only three rounds, and then it had been six months before that,” said MacIntyre (11-0-1, 4 KOs).
“Lockdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for me, I was due to fight on the Josh Taylor undercard, and I was really excited for that. It would have been a massive night for Scottish boxing in a great venue, so when it was cancelled I was really disappointed.
“It’s going to be an exciting fight against Darren Surtees. We’ve both got power, so the fans are in for a treat with this one. We’ve seen things we can exploit, because every boxer has their weaknesses. It’s about what we can do to make it happen.
“On paper, it looks like the toughest night of my career so far, but I’m confident in my own ability that I can beat anybody on the night. It’s just about what I’m doing to get myself prepared, and then turning up and putting on a show for everybody.
“We’ve had to adapt training and I’ve quite enjoyed it. We’ve transformed my coach’s warehouse into a gym, and then we’ve been getting out to the hills and running track, too, so I’ve loved this way of doing it.”
MacIntyre vs Surtees is part of a bumper August 11 show, headlined by Jono Carroll’s catchweight encounter with Maxi Hughes and also featuring Sean McComb vs Siar Ozgul, Sahir Iqbal vs Maredudd Thomas and starlet Pierce O’Leary facing Harry Limburn.
Main image: MTK Global.