Worth the wait – James Tennyson predicts entertaining return

James Tennyson [26(22)-3(3)] believes he is set to be in another fan friendly fight when boxing returns.

‘The Assassin’ has become more must watch TV than Game of Thrones after cementing his status as Ireland’s pound for pound biggest puncher.

The former world title challenger has looked right at home at lightweight and has become a destructive entertaining force.

The former European super featherweight champion secured a British title shot by defeating Craig Evans in another enjoyable watch last time out – and he believes the box office theme will continue when is next in the ring.

‘Tenny’ will trade leather with Gavin Gwynne at the next available date and he is confident their styles will gel to ensure another must watch fight.

“Whenever the fight with Gwynne does happen I know I’ll be ready,” Tennyson told David Kelly of the Belfast Telegraph.

“I watched his fight with Joe Cordina and I think it’s going to be a fan-friendly fight because he likes to take the centre of the ring and put pressure on. That suits me, though I know that one thing I’ll be working on is to use my boxing more.”

The clash looks ideal for one of the cards Matchroom plan to host at their headquarters and the Mark Dunlop managed fighter has no issue with it being behind closed doors if that has to be the case.

“It won’t matter to me if the fight is behind closed doors or not because I just want to get that title and push on.”

The 26-year-old, who has won titles as feather and super featherweight, is confident he’d be ready for a July return.

The Tony Dunlop trained lightweight has made sure to maintain a level of fitness and revealed he also been working on the mental aspect of the game.

“I was never a big reader but now I’ve been reading books on the mind and the champion’s mindset. I want to be even stronger mentally because it’s such a crucial part of sport,” said Tennyson.

“It’s a tough time for everyone but I’m determined to keep a positive mindset and when I get back I want to be an even better fighter – I’ll have a better understanding of a champion’s mindset.

“I haven’t taken my foot off the gas at all since the lockdown so my fitness is good. I had actually bought a lot of gym gear, including weights, before I had any idea that the virus would lead to a lockdown so that has helped a lot.”