Inverness lightweight Andrew Mackay has new focus for summer
ANDREW Mackay wants a showdown with ring rival Ryan Collins – but insists he’s got plenty of other targets to chase.
The 25-year-old lightweight from Inverness was kicking his heels when several attempts to go head-to-head with Irvine’s Collins for the national title rematch fell by the wayside through no fault of his own.
Mackay has won six of his seven professional fight since switching from the amateur scene in Inverness in 2015.
The North Star revealed that he’ll be fighting in Glasgow’s Radisson Blu Hotel on June 9, with major news just about to be announced.
The sole defeat of his pro career was a controversial one as he lost to Collins in Glasgow 11 months ago ended with the contest being stopped after a clash of heads and the judges giving Irvine the title.
It left Mackay reeling and the feeling within the arena was that the Inverness boxer was robbed. The fact a rematch was swiftly agreed between the pair suggested that Collins’ camp agreed a second fight was only fair.
However, two call-offs from Collins, one being only weeks before they were due to step into the ring again, left a bitter taste in Mackay’s mouth to say the least.
A similar scenario emerged when Collins met Charlie Flynn recently when an accidental clash of heads in the Celtic lightweight bout left Flynn with a cut above his left eye.
As it hadn’t reached round four, the judges announced it as a technical draw and another rematch is being spoken about for the autumn.
Although he’d love nothing better than to settle a score with his rival, Mackay wants to draw a line under the war of words.
He stressed: "I’m sick of hearing about Ryan Collins. I think Charlie even said he’s renowned for clash of heads in his fight, meaning my fight more than his I think. Myself and Collins is a fight everyone wants to see, no more so than me, but I’m moving on."
Following the last call-off between the pair, Mackay sat down for talks with his coach Laurie Spence to discuss his career path and the latter decided Mackay needed to team up with a perhaps more experienced trainers to kick forward, should he wish to.
Mackay was more than happy to set the record straight when it came to him and Spence, stressing that they agreed the split was the right way ahead.
He explained: "I have a lot of time for Laurie and cannot thank him enough for what he’s done to get me to this level.
"He trained me and he wants the best for me and that’s why we had that discussion. He felt I needed to have a professional set-up around me, he saw the potential I had and realised I need to get myself back into the position to fight for a Scottish title.
"We went from training in a garage to this stage, so the advancement is phenomenal and I’ll always be grateful to Laurie for everything he’s done for me over the years."
Mackay, who is a team leader engineer for Network Rail, took time out on a holiday in New York earlier this year and opted against quitting the sport.
He could decide to progress from training at weekends in Glasgow to moving there full-time to help progress his boxing career.
