Sheffield boxer's self-doubts disappear

The Sheffielder, who faces Nigerian Abolaji Rasheed, for the Commonwealth middleweight belt on March 24 at Ponds Forge, admits he’d worried about going into the championship rounds.

“Because I was so tired in my previous fight, (10 rounds with Andrew Robinson) I wondered how am I going to do 12. I was fit, but just wasn’t 100% convinced. I was worried I’d get to the eighth round, be winning but not able to throw a punch. I had nightmares about that happening. When it got to round seven though I thought ‘I’m better than you’ and I saw his eyes change; he became fearful. I dominated the last few rounds. So now I know I can do 12, I’m confident in how good I am at that level, and I’m not going to worry about my fitness again. I’ll put it all on the line from now on.”

Sheedy added: “I’m not going to do that now. To be honest, I don’t see the Langford fight as a loss because I learned so much from it.

“A lot of people said I won. I lost on a split decision to a Frank Warren fighter on a Frank Warren show, so I can’t really feel too disheartened.

“Finishing the fight, I was coming on strong.

“That was the best Tommy Langford but it wasn’t the best Sam Sheedy, but when I did start performing to my best then I were outshining him.”