By Lee Collier

Manchester’s super-featherweight hope Jon Kays, 10-1 (2 early), suffered some disappointment on Halloween when his first title fight was cancelled after opponent Ibrar Riyaz was pulled out of the match-up by his trainer during the pre-medical weigh-in two days prior to the contest.

For Kays, who trains under Bobby Rimmer, it was the second bit of bad news in the lead up to the night.  His initial opponent for the vacant British Masters super-featherweight title fight was Craig Johnson, who is the only man to have defeated Kays in a so far promising career. 

It has been almost 12 months since Johnson defeated Kays over six three-minute rounds, when the referee awarded the fight to Johnson by 58-56, and Kays, like most boxers, was keen to avenge his defeat to Johnson.  Unfortunately, this was not to happen as the 28-year-old Johnson has now retired from boxing.

Kays, 26, spoke to BoxingScene.com exclusively before and after his Halloween fight to explain what had happened in the lead up to this aborted title tilt.  “I was due to fight Craig Johnson and he pulled out last Monday so they drafted in Ibrar Riyaz to compete for the title.  When he had his check weigh in on Thursday his trainer pulled him out due to him suffering from flu,” explained Kays.

“I found out on Thursday night and it was too late to bring a replacement in.  The BBBC wouldn’t have sanctioned a replacement at such short notice so I have ended up fighting Sid Razak over six rounds.

“I would have done 10 rounds standing on my head tonight - I have trained harder than ever before,” he continued.  “I was down in the dumps on Thursday night but I am a professional boxer and I’ve got to act professional, so all I am thinking about is Sid Razak and how I am going to beat him.”

Kays expressed his disappointment that he wouldn’t get the chance to have a rematch against Johnson, in a fight that would have meant so much more than just a title fight.  “I am absolutely gutted,” revealed Kays, “but this is boxing and these things happen.” 

“I don’t believe he [Johnson] has retired, I think he has struggled to make weight after 6 weeks of training his bollocks off.  He was a lightweight and was heavier than me when we last fought - I personally feel it’s a weight issue.  I reckon he’ll be back and if he is we can get it on as I learned a lot from that defeat and am a better fighter for it.”

On Saturday night itself, Kays managed to outbox Razak over six-rounds to register a shutout 60-54 win.  Kays was happy with his performance.  “I am happy with my performance tonight,” he declared.

“I had six good rounds and could have gone on for the full 10 rounds.  I knew within the first 30 seconds it was going to be a tough fight.  It just shows how much I have improved in the last 12 months.  I felt so much stronger on the inside and I wasn’t wasting shots.  Razak is tough to open up, but when I did (open him up) I made him pay.  It was another good learning curve tonight.”

Kays ended our conversation by telling us of his future plans and about his rescheduled bid for the British Masters title.  “I just spoke to Ken [Morton, VIP’s matchmaker] and he says the title fight will be in the New Year, most likely Ibrar Riyaz,” confirmed Kays.

“Ken said Ibrar was desperate for the fight but he had the flu.  Next time, he will have more time to prepare and it will be a cracking fight.  I’m going to take a couple of weeks off and have a holiday and then it’s training over Christmas and hopefully the title shot in January.”