Jason Welborn spurred on by mum's memory
Rowley Regis' Jason Welborn has an extra incentive for his quest to claim that elusive British title going forward.
Twice he has challenged for the Lonsdale belt unsuccessfully but his last performance may have got him back in the chase,
First Welborn fell in seven rounds to then-welterweight boss Frankie Gavin in January 2013, succumbing to body shots after absorbing a knockdown earlier in the round.
Then he moved up to light middleweight and took on now WBO world champion Liam Smith in July 2014, waved off in the sixth after taking a knee.
A third shot appeared unlikely but his heroic display to take three-time world title challenger Matthew Macklin the distance last October won him plaudits.
Time away from the sport was needed after his mother, Chris, passed away in December and Welborn believes she will be smiling down on him when he next goes for the British crown.
He said: "I've been on the brink for a few years now. I've come so close. But I'm not going to let that get me downhearted.
"If anything, it spurs me on even more. And I've got even more motivation than ever now because I'm fighting for the memory of my mum."
Welborn is back in action next Saturday night at Walsall Town Hall, tackling the never-stopped Adam Jones in a four-rounder.
The 29-year-old is expecting to have to drop back down to welter to get another crack at British honours, with Bradley Skeete now the man to beat.
Skeete outpointed Stourbridge's Sam Eggington - who was close to picking Welborn for a defence before the latter was matched with Macklin instead - to take his belt last weekend.
Welborn said: "If I can get enough time in the gym over the summer, then I'm looking at welterweight.
"It makes sense, because I'm too big and strong for most at that weight and it makes for better fights. I'll go wherever I need to to get my shot."
Eight other bouts comprise the Town Hall show, with Bloxwich's Luke Paddock topping the bill in a six-rounder against Rhys Saunders.
Former British lightweight titlist and hometown hero Martin Gethin, from Walsall, also takes on busy scrapper 'Fonz' Alexander Anderson over six.
Halesowen's Lennox Clarke is involved in the evening's third six-rounder at super middleweight, taking on Swindon's former Southern and IBF Inter-Continental champion Kelvin Young.
West Bromwich's Tom Stokes has seen his middleweight four-round affair with Stoke's scrapper Mark Till resurrected, having pulled out of December's match with a cut from sparring.
Sid Bowater also gets himself up and running with a welterweight four-rounder against Brummie Dwayne Sheldon, in second pro outings for both.
Two debutants will switch sports from kickboxing elsewhere in the line-up, too, with both having been to the top table in martial arts.
Wolverhampton's Kyle Williams, from Whitmore Reans, was an ICO world featherweight champion fighting out of the city's centre Eclipse gym.
The 24-year-old will continue to teach at Fran Zuccala's Kickboxing and Gracie Jiu Jitsu club alongside his new calling. Williams will turn over at bantam.
Newark's Chad Sugden, 21, held the ISKA world middleweight crown and remains the youngest to ever win a belt from that organisation.
Sugden starts out by lacing on the boxing gloves against Telford's Kieron Gray, with Burton's Leon Gower completes the card at featherweight.
Tickets, priced at £30 and £60 ringside, are on sale from the Town Hall Box Office on 0845 111 2900.
Sponsors Grosvenor Casino Walsall, Bentley Mill Way, will host the weigh-in and after-show party. A number of free taxis from Yellow Taxis will at the Town Hall to go to the casino.
