BOXING:
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Wade Ryan ain’t the type of fighter to leave a job half finished.
So when the Gunnedah boxer was forced to relinquish his NSW State Middleweight Title nearly two years ago due to injury, he vowed to make a return.
That promise will be realised when he challenges Sydney opponent Michael Dan in Dubbo on March 14 for the vacant championship belt.
“It’s been a long time coming, I’m looking forward to it for sure,” Ryan said.
It will be the local pugilist’s 10th professional bout since his entry into the big league in June 2012.
His record speaks for itself with seven wins and just two losses in that time.
Ryan’s first grasp on the middlewight title came when he beat Bradley Veigel on points at the Croatian Club in Punchbowl.
But a troubled few months nursing a hand injury left the title holder unable to train, fight or defend his belt.
Reluctantly he conceded the only option was to give up his hold on the prize.
Ryan’s new challenge for the state title will see him on the undercard to the Dubbo-based Robert Toomey’s IBO Light Welterweight Oceanic Title fight.
Also carded for the night is Wellington fighter Joel Galea who is seeking claims on the NSW Welterweight Title.
Both are experienced campaigners and well travelled on the professional circuit.
For that reason, Ryan has been fitting in as many sparring sessions as possible with the pair in preparation for his own bout.
Ryan knows what to expect from his Filipino-born opponent too.
“He (Dan) is a very durable fighter,” Ryan said.
“He has gone the distance in a lot of his fights.
“But we’ve been working on our own plan too.”
Dan takes a five-fight advantage into the Dubbo contest as well but it’s a statistic that doesn’t bother Ryan, well assured he has the skills to match.
“It probably keeps you more focused if anything,” he said.
“We’ve just got to keep doing the right things at training for it.”
Ryan trains out of the Black and Blue Boxing Gym in Gunnedah under the auspices of Spike Syphers and Richard Dumaluan.
Long-term the plan is to hopefully challenge for a Australian Middleweight Title on home turf but for now, his focus was centred squarely on the task at hand – winning back his NSW title.
“It would be good to win the title back and maybe even defend it Gunnedah,” he said.
“All I’m focused on at the moment though is this fight coming up.”
The event will be held at the Dubbo Showground pavilion. Pre-sale tickets are available at $35 each from the Garden Hotel.