Confident Conrad Cummings identifies reason for Luke Keeler loss

It would be a case of revenge rather than repeat if Conrad Cummings and Luke Keeler were to meet again claims the middleweight who came out second best in the pair’s April meeting.

Cummings [13(6)-2(0)-1] lost the WBO European title fight to the Dubliner on the Frampton-Donaire undercard and, while he took defeat graciously, he hasn’t been afraid to predict victory in any potential return.

‘Mr. Dynamite’ feels he has pin-pointed where he went wrong at the SSE Odyssey Arena, namely the length of his training camp, and has therefore rebounded well from the loss and is full of confidence as he looks to kick-start his career.

The Coalisland middleweight returns at Belfast’s Windsor Park on Saturday August 18th, making his comeback on the same undercard where Keeler defends the WBO rankings belt.

The Jamie Moore-trained puncher admits a quick return may not appeal to the Ballyfermot fighter with world title aspirations but Cummings his hopeful of a repeat one day.

“I would love the rematch, but I haven’t been calling for it because Luke will say, ‘I beat you the first time, why go again?’ and I would be thinking the same had I won.”

“I lost the fight fair and square, but I would love to do it again. I know the result would be different next time,” said the Tyrone fighter before discussing his Windsor Park return.

“I am glad to be back so soon after that defeat. It was a bad night for me. I underperformed massively, but it is what it is and I have to take it on the chin and get back on the horse.”

“It was a hard one to get over because there was a belt on the line, I was fighting at home and I was looking forward to getting the momentum going after a stop-start time.”

“Good luck to Luke Keeler. He performed well, got the win.”

27-year-old Cummings is returning to the ring relatively soon following the defeat to Keeler and is currently holed up in Manchester alongside Carl Frampton and Steven Ward – who boxes Stevie Collins for the BUI Celtic light heavyweight belt on the same bill next month.

It’s a more compact camp this time round, however, and Cummings notes his belief that the preparations for the Keeler fight, which included an extended trip to Tenerife, go some way to explaining the loss.

“My camp was far too long for the fight and I was overcooked,” he claimed.

“I have reassessed and I am just having an eight week camp, I have a strength and conditioning guy on board and I have learned the hard way.”

“It is not a loss if you learn from it. I am my own worst critic and for six weeks I was very down, but that is a good thing. It shows me how much I love this sport.”

“It is not the end of the world and nobody has died here. I will be back to my best.”