Milch vows to “bounce back” ahead of return to the ring

Tony Milch has vowed to “come back stronger and better” as he gets set to return to the ring, four months after suffering the first defeat of his professional career.

On the end of a fifth-round stoppage back in October, the 36-year-old welterweight is returning to the ring on 10 February and says he’s determined to right the wrongs of that performance.

He told Jewish News: “I was out of sorts for a month after that fight, then I realised that you can’t let one loss stop you completely, that setback was needed as part of the journey. I said to myself it would be wrong to call it a day.”

Looking to take that defeat, and turn a negative into a positive, he said: “I want to learn from what happened on the night and come back stronger and better.”

Hoping to fight again as soon as he could, he was unable to return to the ring within 30 days – such are the laws of the sport, and with no shows on in December, the 10 February card was the first event on offer.

“I thought to myself I have to come back to show people, people who have been following my journey, that just because you get one defeat, you keep going. I was very keen to bounce back after that fight because it wasn’t my best performance, full credit to Matt McCarthy on the night, but that doesn’t matter now.”

Unsure as to who his opponent will be, he’s been promised it will be against a “tough English opponent”, it will also be a six-rounder, with it being a non-title fight.

Working with a new trainer in Josh Burnham, he said, “Josh said to me from the beginning he didn’t want to take away any strengths I have, with what he wants to do being to just use his coach’s eyes and add things that he thought was missing.

“Taking away nothing, we’re just trying out things, things he thought I wasn’t doing, like coming forward a bit more. I have the boxing skill, but he wants to see a bit more aggression, he knows I can punch, we’re working a little bit more on a few other tactics, but he hasn’t taken away any of the good stuff!

“I’m still fit, feeling confident, and looking forward to having a good performance on 10 February.”