Purdy looking to finish year in style

Hennessy Sports17th November, 2009

Lee "Lights Out" Purdy will make the first defence of his Southern Area Welterweight title later this month as he looks to end 2009 on a high. The Colchester man defends his title against Mark Douglas in the chief support to Darren Barker and Wayne Elcock's British Middleweight title showdown at the Brentwood Centre on November 28th.

The Hennessy Sports event is live on ITV4 and having successfully reversed the only defeat of his carer last time out Purdy is aiming to round out an excellent year in style. Purdy's last outing at the Brentwood Centre in December of 2008 saw him lose his unbeaten record at the hands of Peter McDonagh in a ten round thriller for the Southern Area Light Welterweight title.

It was a crushing blow for Purdy but in hindsight it proved to be a valuable learning experience. "Obviously it's very difficult when you lose you're unbeaten record but I knew it was the scales that beat me that night and not McDonagh. Making 10 stone was just taking too much out of me and I had no strength or power in there so I knew I had to move up to welterweight.

Purdy's welterweight debut came in February of this year and two wins later he was ready to avenge his defeat to McDonagh with the Southern Area Welterweight title on the line second time around. Their September rematch proved to be a far different affair to the original encounter with Purdy dominating from start to finish and taking a comfortable points win.

"I feel so much better now up at welterweight," said Purdy. "The difference between my first fight with McDonagh and the second was like night and day. In the first fight I didn't have the power or strength to hurt him and he was able to stand right in front of me for the whole fight but in the rematch it was completely different.

"I hurt him in every round and he could definitely feel the extra power. He knew he couldn't just stand there and trade in the second fight because I was hurting him. It was great to reverse that defeat and I can move on with my career now."

Purdy now hopes to finish the year in style with a win over Douglas before setting his sights on further honours in 2010. "I want to make one or two defences of the Southern Area title and then step up again next year and look at the English, Commonwealth and British titles. I know I still need a bit more seasoning but you have to try and keep progressing and my manager and trainer Tony Sims will know when the time is right for me to step up.

Purdy though is keen to stress that he is not looking past his encounter with Douglas in Brentwood. "I'm certainly not taking him lightly. I haven't seen much of Douglas but from what I've heard he's a very tough guy who comes to fight. That will suit me because I like a tear up as well so I think it should make for an exciting fight.

Commonwealth Champ Darren Barker's bid to win the British Middleweight title against Wayne Elcock tops the bill at the Brentwood Centre while the undercard also features Waltham Abbey super middleweight Daniel "Mr. Slick" Cadman, exciting light middleweight Yassine El Maachi and unbeaten prospects Bradley Evans, Bobby Ward, Phill Fury and Steve Barnes.

Tickets for the bout priced £30 and £80 are available from the Ticketline box office on 0844 888 4402 or via www.ticketline.co.uk