Inverness boxer to fight for Celtic Super Bantamweight title in Belfast
CALUM Turnbull is looking to make it third time lucky and walk out of the ring with a championship belt for the first time.
The Inverness City Boxing Club fighter is set to take on Northern Ireland’s Matty Boreland for the Celtic Super Bantamweight Championship at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on Friday night.
The 25-year-old will be looking to make an impact after missing out on two opportunities to become Scottish Super Bantamweight champion.
Turnbull took a break from boxing for a few months as he considered his options in the sport. But after competing in a few bouts this year and being offered the chance to fight for the Celtic title, he feels he is back to his best and ready to be crowned a champion.
He said: “After my second fight with Arbuckle, I was up and down and boxing wasn’t there for me for a few months and I didn’t commit to training.
“I decided to try and get back on the horse, as I signed with a new manager and team. I am back training full time and looking forward to the big fights.
“I have seen who I am against and I am confident that I can do the job. Even though I have the big fights and they have not gone my way, with this bout, I do feel that my experience will show on different levels
“I am looking for my first title after three attempts, but not forgetting my last two title attempts were against top opposition. I took the chance to go down there and take him on.
“I have been putting the work in and my experience will overcome him.
“It is the level that I want to get to.”
Boreland is undefeated in his professional career so far, but Turnbull is confident he can become the first person to defeat him and come back to Inverness a champion.
Turnbull said: “Boreland is undefeated as a professional but I will be looking to take his zero loss record.
“He is the third person that I am going in against that has had an undefeated record, all I am looking to do is be his first loss.”
As well as preparing for his own Celtic title fight on Friday night, Turnbull is also training his own students taking up a coaching role at Inverness City Boxing Club.
Two of his fighters competed at the National Development Championship with Mary MacGillivray winning a gold medal after knocking her opponent out after 40 seconds and Tom Rennie reaching the final of his category.
He says he is enjoying his coaching role at the club and will be looking to set an example by becoming a champion on Friday night.
He said:” I am taking on a big coaching role just now and working with other boxers in the gym which I love.
“It is good to put out my experiences to help train others.
“Hopefully I can practice what I preach and walk away with a title.”