It’s business as usual for Tyler Denny despite favourite tag

Denny takes on Macauley McGowan at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena aiming for a fourth straight victory to further boost his standing in the middleweight division.

The 31-year-old is on one of the best runs in British boxing, with all four of his most recent wins coming against previously unbeaten opponents.

Manchester’s McGowan differs in that respect with three losses on his record but the 28-year-old has no shortage of experience and having been the underdog so many times himself, Denny knows he must be alert to the challenge.

“The favourite tag means nothing,” he said. “I have not been favourite for anything and have come away with the wins.

“You still have to train like you are the challenger and that’s what I always do. As soon as you start thinking about being favourite, that will be your downfall. If I’ve done everything I can in training, then what will be, will be. I can’t let my focus go.”

In addition to his opponent having a record with blemishes, Saturday’s 10-round contest also differs from Denny’s recent fights in not having a title on the line.

He appears certain to relinquish the English after British Boxing’s Board of Control ordered him to defend it for the third time, this time against Kieron Conway, in what would have also been the Rowley Regis man's second straight eliminator for the British crown.

Denny and his team, quite reasonably, feel his recent record should be more than adequate for a shot at the Lonsdale belt. Efforts to have the European title on the line in Saturday's fight also eventually came to nothing.

“I think the board just make it up as they go along,” said Denny. “To be honest, I don’t see me fighting for a British title in the near future.

“They put me in for another eliminator with Conway and at some point you just have to say, enough is enough.

“We pulled out of that and tried to get the European, which didn’t quite come off.

“The bottom line is I don’t look past this fight but hopefully there is something on the horizon.

“I guess I will just have to bypass the British and fight for something else. I have said it before I would go down the international route.

“I can’t keep defending the English title forever and I can’t force the board to make me a mandatory. If beating all the fighters I have doesn’t make you one, I don’t know what does. But it’s out of my control.”

Denny, who has benefited from turning full-time after previously fitting his boxing career around his job as a plumber, is refusing to let any frustration get the better of him.

Besides, the bigger picture remains positive and Saturday’s show, promoted by Boxxer one of the biggest hosted in the region for years, is enough reason to get excited.

Denny's BCB Promotions gym mate, Kirstie Bavington, will make history when she takes on Olympic champion Lauren Price for the first-ever British women’s title, while Darlaston’s own Toyko 2020 hero Ben Whittaker makes his return to the ring after nine months out injured. The show his headlined by Joshua Buatsi’s light-heavyweight clash with Poland’s Pawel Stepien.

“If someone had told me even a year ago I would be fighting in Birmingham on a Sky Sports show, I would have snapped their hands off,” he says.

“Sometimes you have to appreciate where you have come from and just enjoy it. Sometimes when you are training, dieting and selling tickets you can easily forget that. It is a short career and you have to enjoy it while you can.

“I’m over the moon to be on the show. My last few fights have been in London and Manchester and I’ve sold maybe 100 to 150 tickets. This time I am up to 500.

“It is good for the Midlands and hopefully, if it is supported, they will do it again. From my point of view it has gone really well. It is all set up for a great night and I just need to go and perform.

“They (McGowan’s camp) will fancy it, we are going to fancy it and it is all set up for a great fight."