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Scotty Cardle laces the gloves up for his second pro outing on Friday night as the Team GB star fights on the undercard of Tony Bellew’s British light heavyweight title defence against Danny McIntosh, live on Sky Sports 1HD.
Cardle made his pro bow on the undercard of Kell Brook’s welterweight showdown with Matthew Hatton in Sheffield on March 17 with a shutout points win over Sid Razak, and the Blackpool fighter was given the star treatment by promoter Eddie Hearn and Sky Sports.
The show was a huge hit with fight fans on Sky Sports, notching the highest non-pay-per-view viewing figures for boxing for the broadcaster, and the 22 year old was able to soak up the atmosphere with a full walk-on in front of the huge Steel City turn-out.
“I remember being in the changing rooms and someone coming in and saying ‘you’ve got the ring-walk’, and I was thinking ‘you’ve got to be kidding, it’s only my debut, I haven’t done enough to get a ring-walk!’” said Cardle.
“Just coming out from the lights, and the reception I got alone was amazing, I was overwhelmed by that. There was an electric atmosphere in the arena – it must’ve been great to watch on TV, I’m not surprised it got such high numbers on Sky Sports.”
Cardle was hot property as he decided to turn over to the paid ranks, and decided to sign with Matchroom Sport and Hearn after meeting with promoters across the country – and it’s a decision he feels has paid off already, with his Sheffield and Liverpool appearances preceding a spot on the undercard of Carl Froch’s IBF World super middleweight title fight with Lucian Bute in Nottingham on May 26.
“I couldn’t really ask for much more than the three dates that Eddie Hearn has given me,” said Cardle. “I’m in the big-time already. It’s just great to be part of all these big nights and be on the undercard of such great fights already. Tony Bellew’s a great fighter and his fan base is fantastic so Friday night is going to be a great occasion – I’ve got a lot of people coming to cheer me on too and I cannot wait to get in there and experience it all over again.
I thought my debut went really well. The nerves building up to it were electric, but they were good nerves, I used them well in the fight. Now I’m just chomping at the bit for my next fight. The good thing is that it went well, it was an impressive win I hope. I hope I turned a few heads in the arena and now it’s onto bigger and better things in my next one.
I knew what I was in for with Sid Razak. Sid’s a survivor, a very durable fighter so I that’s what I was expecting and that’s what I got from him. He did say to me after the fight that he was shocked that he stayed with me, shocked that he lasted the four rounds.
“He told me I was very strong and that he was glad he survived it because he had a fight the next week. I felt that I did buckle him a few times, but he’s a very tough guy and he well to handle me for the full four rounds, so I’ll give credit where it’s due.
I’ve been in the ring more than 100 times as an amateur but I did think it was a big difference fighting as a pro. There’s no head guards so you get a much wider view firstly, but then because of that you can’t really relax, you can’t really sleep on the other boxer because any shot can be vital, any shot can be dangerous. So you’ve got to keep switched on at all times, that’s what I learnt.
“Obviously I didn’t really get hit that much by Sid but there were I think two occasions where I got clocked and that’s the thing, you just can’t relax on a boxer. You’ve got to keep your head on the job and keep your concentration.”
Tickets are priced at £30, £40, £60 and £80 with VIP tickets at £150 and can be purchased at www.coldwellboxing.com and www.matchroomboxing.com
