Adam Booth is targeting a return to the ring as early as September for Felix Cash.
The middleweight on Saturday lost for the first time as a professional, when a cut on his right eyelid inflicted by an accidental clash of heads meant Tyler Denny was awarded a technical decision in the fifth round.
Cash, 31, was fighting under Booth for the first time, and on the occasion of his first fight for 18 months. He has also since had to endure seeing Denny, the European champion, matched with Hamzah Sheeraz on the undercard of Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium on September 21.
Another of Booth’s fighters, the talented Josh Kelly, moves to middleweight for the first time when he fights Liam Smith on the same undercard, but the trainer hopes that Cash will return at around the same time, as long as the cut he suffered has sufficiently healed.
“It probably would have been [Cash fighting Sheeraz],” Booth said. “It probably would have been, but it’s not, and that’s going to burn him, but life moves on.
“September, October [is when I want him to fight again].
“Just because you lose a fight after four-and-a-half rounds – a technical decision – it doesn’t mean you have to return to the drawing board. The only drawing board we might have to go back to is to see the cut before you go back again. Really it’s about are Matchroom interested in being his promoter, and if not, what’s next for him? But we’ll figure it out.
“I haven’t seen him since the fight – I’ve only spoken to him. But we’ll take our time and figure it out.
“He’s gutted. But it is what it is – the doctor was right to stop the fight, because where the cut was was actually the muscle that lifts the eyelid. If it had got any worse, he could have been left with a droopy eyelid for the rest of his life, so it’s absolutely right. Ultimately, it was a bit of a nothing first round, and then Tyler was determined, Felix was taking a little while to adjust, and before he got a chance to adjust, he was behind on points and he loses because of the cut and the technical decision.”
David Adeleye fights under Booth for the first time on July 20, against Solomon Dacres for the English heavyweight title at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena – the same venue at which Denny defeated Cash.
“That’s not to take anything away from Tyler Denny,” Booth continued. “I hate losing, but if I had to lose, I’d pick someone like Tyler Denny to be the one, because of the man that he is and what he’s done in his career to earn his chance to be in the spotlight and to secure himself.
“But obviously I’m gutted. We need to now look at what Felix is going to do, because he’s been out for 18 months, and he’s better than what you saw.”