Weighty problem for hot prospect Singh

Callum Singh…his days as a super-flyweight may be over

A MERE one pound in weight has prevented Callum Singh by beginning the new year as a champion.

A mere one pound thwarted the talented Coventry fighter’s bid to become Midlands super-flyweight champion.

That’s the narrow margin by which Singh failed to make weight for October’s title clash with belt holder Sean Bruce.

The bout still went ahead, but as a non-title eight rounder and Singh won on points, dropping Bruce along the way.

Not surprisingly, Singh, with seven victories under his belt, is undecided over whether to continue as a super-fly or move up to bantam.

Afterall, there were reasons he narrowly failed to make 8st 3lbs. His team used scales that weren’t correctly calibrated, they insist.

And, in Leicester’s Bruce, he proved himself against a man who had not tasted defeat before. What’s more, he did it in the champ’s home city.

I mean, it’s was just one pound.

“I’m ranked number six in Britain, it was my first 50-50 fight and I haven’t faced a hostile crowd like that since the amateurs,” Singh said. “I was a pound over, so do we try again? I’ve learned my lesson. It was my first title shot, my first time in a big fight.

“For my debut, I was walking around at 8st 5lbs, but that was over two years ago.”

But the prospect admitted: “I think it might be the time to move up to bantam. I’m still big at bantam.”

Singh, who stands 5ft 8ins tall, must bow to the inevitable, I believe. It may have been only one pound, but it was the last pound and his long body had nothing left to lose safely.

And at 22, he is still growing. Singh may even have a very bright future at super-bantam.

What the Bruce fight showed is Callum, who trains at Brendan Norman’s Bulkington gym, has the talent and temperament to be a force.

“I’ve said since I was 12-years-old, ‘get me fights, get me anyone’,” Singh told me. “I’m not the kind of guy who asks, ‘who am I fighting?’ I just ask when and where.

“A couple of fights have been offered at late notice, five days’ notice. I’m not going to go in at five days’ notice and think, if I come up short, what if (I had more time to prepare)? Let’s make these fights happen, but give me time to prepare.

“I’ve shown what I can do. I’m going to keep improving with every fight. The people who train me have been with me from the beginning and they are like my family.”

Singh is a very gifted boxer and, I’m sure, the best is yet to come. The best, however, will be delivered at bantam.