By John Evans

If the saying holds true that ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ then Ryan Farrag certainly made the most of his big chance. Many fans first exposure to the 23-year-old will have been his toe-to-toe battle with English bantamweight champion Craig Lyon during last Octobers super flyweight edition of Prizefighter when the pair managed to cram 12 rounds worth of action into just nine minutes. The stage seemed set for him to capitalise on his new, improved profile but Farrag hasn’t been seen in a ring since. It must have been a frustrating period for the 5-1 Liverpudlian.

“Oh it is, you know,” he said when speaking to Boxingscene about his inactivity “I wanted to strike while the iron was hot but I haven’t had that chance. I’ve got a little minor injury so we’re not setting a date until that’s sorted. Hopefully I’ll be out as soon as possible. It’s not too bad but not something I’d like anybody to know about! It’s just a small injury and no big problem and should be sorted in the next few weeks.”

Having emerged victorious from his firefight with Lyon, Farrag went straight into a semi final match up with reigning British super flyweight champion Lee Haskins. It was a huge ask for a then 5-0 novice and although Farrag bravely pressed forward through a mask of blood caused by a first round clash of heads, he came up just short.

“I’ve watched the Lyon fight at least ten times! It was an exciting fight wasn’t it?” he laughed. “Boxing the English and British champions on the same night was a good little lesson for me. I was just ready for it on the night. I didn’t care who I was drawn against I was just gonna go out and give it my best. I wasn’t worried because you can’t go into a fight worrying. It was great for me to fight two good boxers in one night.”

Haskins went on to defeat former victim Don Broadhurst in the final. The Bristolian has a reputation for being incredibly awkward and difficult to fight.
 
“He’s an awkward fighter. I’ve got James Dickens as a gym mate and he’s sort of similar to him in that he’s hard to hit. He was very defensive in our fight apart from the last round. I don’t know if you saw but going into the third round I think it was, he wiped the Vaseline off my head! They’re little tricks he’ll use but I just look at that he felt he had to do that and wasn’t that confident but he’s a good fighter and all credit to him.”

The battle with Lyon was thrilling but before people reading this assume that every Farrag fight is going to be a toe to toe war, let us let the fighter himself describe what the fans can expect in the future.

“I mean, I do consider myself an exciting fighter and fans will enjoy watching my fights,” pledge Farrag.  “If I have to box though, I will. Most of the time it’ll be pressurised boxing so yeah, the fans can expect more of that! I think you learn from every fight and training camp you have don’t you? I think I’m always growing as a fighter but coming into the pro game I was already suited to it. I haven’t had to do much adjusting so it’s gone good.”

Farrag enjoyed a successful amateur career that included making the final of the 2010 ABA championships. With the 2012 Olympics just months away and the qualification procedure drawing to a close, boxing fans can expect to hear a lot about the potential future stars who will be competing. Farrag’s run to the final that year included a victory over Luke Campbell; one of the boxers already guaranteed a place at the London Games. With his come forward style it would be easy to assume that Farrag simply outworked and out hustled Campbell. Not so.

“To be honest it was quite the opposite” he reveals. “For that fight I had to change my style. I’m lucky to have great coaches in the gym, Paul and Michael Stevenson, and they came up with a master plan to beat him. We had two weeks to train for that fight and it was more about being on my toes and keeping the right range to beat Luke and it worked. The plan was executed brilliantly. I’ve got my coaches to thank for that one. I was the underdog definitely but it’s always sweeter that way.”

Prior to his Prizefighter exertions, Farrag had faced the usual mix of lower weight journeymen and pounded out the standard decision victories over the likes of Delroy Spencer and Marc Callaghan. The opportunity to mix with higher quality opponents seemed to take Farrag’s game to a new level. Obviously, the temptation now will be to pursue more challenging fights. That desire will need to be tempered by the fact that Farrag is still just 15 months into his career.

“I do rise to the occasion. If I’ve got a better quality of opponent in front of me I do tend to perform better. I also find that the better class of fighter are easier to fight. The journeymen don’t open themselves up and are cagy. These other fighters who do come to fight, they’re there to take shots I find.

“Obviously I don’t wanna keep facing journeymen for the rest of my career and I don’t plan on just keep getting my wins up by boxing them because you don’t get recognised so yeah, bring on the better opposition!”

Farrag’s weight has fluctuated between featherweight and super flyweight since his professional debut in October 2010.  He puts this down to being another factor of facing journeymen.

“Yeah that’s it. I think the fight before Prizefighter, I got a phone call saying my opponent had pulled out and another’s coming in at 8st 10lbs so I wouldn’t have to make weight. I think for a title I’ll do bantam.”

A sustained campaign at bantamweight could see Farrag rewarded with some kind of title fight quickly. Fights with the likes of Jamie McDonnell and Stuart Hall may still be a distance away but rivals like Josh Wale and Martin Ward could be realistic targets for 2012. There could also be the small matter of a rematch with Lyon. Fighters in the domestic lower weight classes tend to get chances more quickly then other weight divisions.

“You do don’t you? I don’t know if that’s because there’s not as many fighters at the weight or what but it’s just about doing well. I’ve only lost once to Lee Haskins so it’s all about getting wins in your weight class and sooner or later you’re gonna get a title shot. I’m not one to say I wanna stay away from him or him. If my promoter gets me the fights I’ll fight them and I’m confident that I’ll win as well so it should be an exciting year."