Jon Kays Credits Bobby Rimmer For His Recent Revival
By Terence Dooley
Jon Kays takes on Merthyr’s Dai Davies, 6-12-1 (1), at the Velodrome, Manchester on the 17th of September, the 12-1 (3) super-featherweight hopes to burst to prominence during the 2010-11 season, with the Davies fight a tool-sharpener ahead of stiffer tests.
Kays, who dropped his ‘0’ when losing on points to Craig Johnson in 2008, feels that he has come on immeasurably in recent years, he poured praise on trainer Bobby Rimmer, believing that both his fitness and ability have improved under Rimmer’s stewardship.
“My fitness pulled me up to my feet in my first fight after the Johnson loss,” reminisced Kays, who was floored by Barrington Brown en route to a points win in his first fight under Rimmer.
“It showed how hard I trained. I got up and got the win. My head was clear when I went down. I winked at Bobby to let him know I was okay. I won the next round convincingly. Bobby warned me to be careful in future fights, and I have.”
The Ashton-based boxer recently watched stablemates Brian Rose and Tony Jeffries suffer their own setbacks – Rose lost to Max Maxwell in May and Jeffries was held to a draw by Michael Banbula last month; the 27-year-old, however, believes that overcoming adversity makes you a better fighter.
“My loss to Johnson made me a lot better of a fighter. I learned so much from it. I took that feeling, it was one of the lowest parts of my career, and used it to say to myself, ‘I never want to feel like that again’. Fighters can come back from defeat and Brian Rose will come back from that and become British champion – I’ve no doubt about that,” declared Kays.
Rose, 14-1-1 (4), starts the road back to contention on the undercard of Kays’ contest. Jon believes that the light-middleweight’s mood will be boosted in the comforting confines of Rimmer’s gym.
“We are like a family in the gym and we all look out for one another. We’re all friends and we’ll all be there to supporting him. We’ll bring Brian back twice the better fighter,” predicted Kays.
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