Rob Doody targets return to the ring

Tipton's Rob Doody has vowed to return to professional boxing after spending nearly 18 months out of the ring with personal problems.

Doody's last fight was his first title win back in March 2010, beating Martin Gordon on points to claim the British Masters welterweight belt.

The 29-year-old was then paired with Richard Ghent in a first title defence before pulling out, with Ghent then halting Gordon to take the belt.

The title has moved on since then but Doody's career has not, although he did originally plan to return last November in a bout against Matt Seawright, before pulling out again.

Doody today revealed that a difficult break-up of the relationship with his partner - and mother of his young daughter - was the main reason behind his absence from the ring.

But, now that situation appears to have settled, Doody has targeted resuming his boxing career.

He said: "I feel better, stronger and more relieved in my head, because I had a lot ot trouble in my personal life while I was still boxing.

"I am really going to go for it, life throws things at you but I have come out of it as a better person. I just want to get back in the ring now, I have missed it so much.

"I am not going to be able to go around saying 'I won a title in boxing' for much longer, I need to get back in there and I want to do it."

Doody will again be trained by Mark Richards, the former pro from Wednesbury, while Errol Johnson is still on board as his manager.

Their job will be to find Doody a fight to get him back in action although the next West Midlands shows, planned for late September and early October, have perhaps come a bit too soon.

But Doody, although he has never boxed outside of the patch, has refused to rule out boxing on the road to get himself back up and running.

He said: "I don't mind waiting for a bit to get back in the ring because, the longer they give me, the better I will be.

"I could be tempted to box away and cause an upset, I wouldn't go there and bottle it."