REDDITCH middleweight Carl Dickens secured a fifth victory from as many professional fights as he won a hard fought rematch against Brighton’s James Child at Villa Park on Saturday.
‘The Wallop’ delighted his large group of supporters at the Holte Suite as he won a four-round thriller against the gritty southpaw Child, who was Dickens’ victim in his third professional triumph.
The Winyates East boxer was thrilled to have prevailed in a fight which birminghamboxing.co.uk described as ‘the fourth best Midlands fight of the year and the best Midlands undercard fight of the year’.
However, Dickens admitted there was room for improvement ahead of his return to the ring, which is scheduled for mid-December.
Roared on by his legion of fans, Dickens dominated the first round but suffered a setback at the start of the second round when he sustained a cut above his left eye, which was an old wound from his previous fight against Danny Brown.
Angered by the cut and fearing it could worsen and therefore end in him possibly losing the fight due to an early stoppage, Dickens admitted he “got into a tear-up” and lost concentration for a while.
“I went a bid mad for a while and tried to rush things,” said The Wallop. I was frustrated to have been cut again and, being roared on by the crowd as well, I was trying to do too much for a while.
“I need to learn from that, but I regained my composure and got the job done, which was pleasing as he’s a good fighter.
“It was another brutal battle and my manager Jon Pegg said afterwards that the pair of us have fighting styles which make for a great contest, so I am pleased that it made entertaining viewing for the fans.
“I’ve always said I fight to excite the fans and that means a lot to me.
“I was guilty of showboating a bit after I caught him with a great shot and then lowered my hands to offer him a free shot in response. I got carried away and I’ll try to make sure I never do that again.”
Dickens’ trainer Gary Blower, of Birmingham-based Studio ABC, paid tribute to 30-year-old Dickens.
“Child against pushed Carl all the way in a great Midlands undercard fight and once again Carl had to deal with a nasty cut on his left eye, but he pushed and got another win under his belt, proving wrong all the people who said he was not good enough or too old to turn professional,” said Blower.
“His work ethic in training is second to none and, even if he is a pain in the backside sometimes, he is a pleasure to train!
“He sells plenty of tickets and has plenty of sponsors because he gives 100 per cent.”
Dickens added: “People are taking notice of me now. There were lots of people saying it’s the best fight they’ve ever seen and comments like that just make me more determined to get better and better.
“By this time next year I am determined to be headlining a show for a British Masters title. I won’t stop until I’ve achieved it.
“I’d like to thank the wonderful fans again and also my main sponsor Passion VIP and other generous sponsors IDM Electrical of Redditch and Iconic Menswear of Sutton Coldfield.”
