Mackay eyes up home ground return to ring
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ANDREW Mackay hopes he will be able to make his comeback in boxing in front of his home fans in Inverness after a signing a deal with a new management team.
The 25-year-old has put pen to paper with MTK Global in his bid to get back into title contention later this year.
The lightweight fighter has missed out on becoming national champion after three unsuccessful attempts in the last two years.
But the North Star is looking at 2018 as his comeback year and with his new team is looking to go from strength to strength by fighting in Inverness.
“MTK have gone from strength to strength and the platforms and the shows they have to offer are different from the rest of the competition.
“When my last contract was up I wanted to see what options I had before I renewed anything. After sitting down with Sam Kynoch from MTK and hearing what he had to offer I made the decision to sign with them.
“I’ve not had the opportunity to fight in Inverness I always had to travel to Glasgow.
“But after sitting down with Sam they said they could guarantee bringing professional boxing back to Inverness. “That was the big positive to signing up with them.”
Since turning professional he has had up and downs in his career. He first made a real name for himself winning the British Challenge Lightweight belt with a third round stoppage.
But when fighting for the Scottish championship two years ago he lost out on a technical decision to Irvine’s Ryan Collins after a headclash forced an early finish.
Last June, Mackay drew with Marek Laskowski before suffering a defeat to the Aberdeen-based Pole in a rematch three months later.
“I got the opportunity for the Scottish title back in June 2016. Unfortunately it got stopped due to a technical decision due to a clash of heads, I lost in a countback with the points from the scorecards in the first four rounds,
“I was then in a 10 round war against Marek which a lot of people thought I won but it was judged to be a draw and then I lost the rematch. I have had two unlucky decisions but the last one I lost fair and square.”
However, Mackay believes that his link-up with MTK will lay a path towards future success and a summer Scottish-title tilt.
“I want to be the first person from Inverness to win the title that is my main focus. After changing management I will be going down a different route and looking for different titles. “But the Scottish title is something I want and then progress on to the Celtic title.
“I would be looking to be fighting in a six round bout in Paisley on April 6. Then be looking towards a crack at a title in the summer time. My last fight was the loss for the Scottish title. That was my first real loss. Since then there have been injuries and management issues but this is a new time so April 6 will be a new chapter to me.”
MTK Scotland’s Sam Kynoch believes Mackay is a great addition in his growing stable and he predicted that the Inverness man will be a hit when he fights on home soil.
“Andrew is a great addition to our stable – he has sparred at MTK Scotland on many occasions so I know that he has a boxing style which is pleasing for fans,” said Kynoch.
“I know Andrew is keen to box up in his hometown of Inverness and this is something we will be delivering for him. Having both Andrew and Gary Cornish in our stable creates a great basis for promotions in the Highlands.”
