Inverness boxer Gary Cornish needs to deliver "explosive" performance says his new coach
GARY Cornish’s new coach Liam Foy wants the Highlander to deliver an explosive performance next month to resurrect his career.
David Howe is his opponent in Glasgow on January 26 and Foy knows the 30-year-old needs to make serious strides at this stage of his sporting life.
A loss against Sam Sexton in the British heavyweight title bout in October has set Cornish back, prompting a move back to Inverness and a reunion with Foy.
The pair worked together during Cornish’s formative years as an amateur, before the ex-joiner turned professional and Foy went solo and formed Highland Boxing Academy in 2011.
Merkinch heavyweight Cornish split from his previous trainer Billy Nelson three weeks before the Sexton fight, completing his training camp under Johnney Roye in Preston.
Foy is already putting the hours into training Scotland’s number one heavyweight, adamant he can still deliver.
“He’s at a defining point in his career where he needs to make a sharp turn in the ring. It needs to be explosive, aggressive and a brilliant display for the fans,” said Foy. “That’s what I’m training him for and what he needs to do to resurrect his career.
“He needs this win and if he gets it, then the names that have been thrown about will be household ones in the boxing world. He should be beating David Howe and I want him to make a mark in this fight.
“We’re doing 10-12 hours a week in the gym and then sparring on weekends. The weekend just past was my first look to see if he could better that performance and that he still had something to give.
“I watched him spar at MTK’s gym in Glasgow against Jay McFarlane and I was blown away with how he was. I’m not claiming to have a magic wand but he knows what I’m asking for and he’s capable of doing it.
“It would be foolish of me to big him up or blow smoke up his backside, then come January 26 he’s still exactly the same. But I’m really happy with where he is two weeks in.”
Foy was highly critical of Cornish’s display in that Sexton fight, which cost him the chance to be the first Scot to win a Lonsdale belt.
However his disrupted preparation – with the change of coach mid-training camp – was a mitigating factor.
“I was shocked with his performance against Sam Sexton. I’ve said it quite openly – if he was still up here training with Paul Young, I believe he’d have won that fight. He’d have definitely put a lot more effort and passion into his preparation,” said Foy.
“I’ve seen him box a number of times and he threw more backhanders in his amateur fights than he did against Sam Sexton. It was a case of bad preparation – when I spoke to him initially I was brutally honest. The preparation was poor, there were no fight tactics and it showed he wasn’t in the right place. It was a terrible fight.
“I was there and as a coach, it was so frustrating to watch him take a massive step back. It should have been his biggest performance and him making history; he was lacking in so many departments.
“He wasn’t getting destroyed technically and it wasn’t down to Sam Sexton dominating him. He let Sam in and didn’t utilise his own skills.”
Cornish’s manager Sam Kynoch said earlier this week he was happy with the fighter’s decision, on the understanding that he would still have to travel outwith Inverness for regular sparring.
The hours required to train a professional fighter will stretch Foy, who already has a busy gym at HBA to look after.
He has recruited one of his club coaches, Laura Mackay, to work on Cornish’s strength and conditioning and he does not mind going the extra mile for the Highlander.
“It gives me extra hours in the gym but if it wasn’t right for me or Gary, I wouldn’t be doing it. After that performance he can only do better – I feel I can help him do that,” said Foy.
“If I’m sacrificing more time with my family or losing sleep at night it’s no problem, because I’m enjoying it. I want to be part of the journey.”