Byles produces best performance to date

Mikey Byles...wants to establish himself as a quality "gatekeeper"

WITH each fight following a long break from the ring, Mikey Byles – tough as the castle walls in his Warwick hometown – is getting better.

With each contests, there’s improvement under trainer Chris Sanigar. Each engagement adds to the athlete’s confidence.

On Saturday at famed East End fight venue York Hall, middleweight Byles gave a very good account of himself against tall Essex prospect Ellis Steward.

The home fighter was cut in the second and endured relentless pressure throughout the six rounder before taking a tight 58-56 decision.

That was fight number five for Byles in an unlikely comeback after seven years away from the game.

The 37-year-old is yet to register a win since returning this year, but he’s given a good account of himself against very tasty opposition. All have been unbeaten, one a Welsh champ, one a Midlands. All knew they’d been in a scrap.

Byles, a real hard-as-nails crowd-pleaser, has been matched tough. He’s been thrown in the deep end and swam.

This year, I’ve watched two barnstormers involving Mikey. There’s never a dull moment when he answers the bell.

“That was my best yet,” he said of the Steward fight, “and I thought I did enough to win. He was a tough lad, durable, but I felt I could’ve got him out of there a couple of times. He boxed well on the back foot.

“He’s over six foot and I expected a bit more range. I dealt with the jab, I was slipping it and it was the first fight where I really put the pressure on throughout.

“He’s a good lad. He was cut in the second and that can create doubts, but he stuck at it. It was a tough old night for him.”

When he returned in March, Byles, who has won eight of 19, gave himself five fights to get battle fit and assess what was left in the tank. He and his team are happy with the progress made and so the blood and bruises show goes on.

“I’ve kept on improving, I’ve slowly built and built,” said Byles. “At this stage, that’s what it’s all about. I’ve been with very good lads, all undefeated, and competed. I’m sparring top quality guys and getting plenty of technical work.”

He now wants to establish himself as a test for the best prospects – what the sport calls a “gatekeeper”. He wants to become the yardstick which measures a boxer tipped for the top.

Byles said: “I’m not getting any younger and seven years out is a long time away. If I fought for a British title, that would be amazing. But to do that you have to win fights, train hard and dedicate your whole life to the sport. With my life, I have to sometimes switch-off and move on to the other stuff (Mikey is currently studying at university).

“It’s a big jump to title fights, it’s a different ball game. I want to be a bit of a gatekeeper, test those 8-0 and 9-0 lads. See what they’ve got.”

Mikey is back in action in Leicester on October 26 and, again, the opposition is top draw. In the opposite corner will be southpaw Stanley Stannard who has lost only two of 12 and challenged for the British light-middleweight title.

Like the rest, Stannard will have to work very hard for a win. Byles is no one’s pushover.