As Welsh Area super-lightweight champion Kieran Gething heads back to the ring, News from Wales catches up for an exclusive interview

Welsh Area super-lightweight champion Kieran Gething (9-2-2, 2KOs) heads back to the ring later this month after 22 months away from the sport, competing on September 25.  The  joint Warren Boxing Management and Priority Promotions event in a 10-round Celtic lightweight title battle is due to take place at the Vale Sports Arena in Cardiff..

Gething already has an amateur and professional record to be proud of:  former two-time CYP Welsh champion; junior, youth and senior WABA champion, silver medal in the Golden Gong Tournament and silver in the British CYP championships, and a great track record as a professional boxer.

However, it’s been nearly 2 years now since the MTK Global fighter reached a stalemate live on Sky TV,  when fighting Jeff Ofori.  The three ringside judges couldn’t pick a winner and referee Kieran McCann used his casting vote to put the home fighter through over Gething – and a combination of COVID 19 and surgery for an elbow injury has seen Kieran sitting on the sidelines ever since.

Kieran’s return this month is eagerly awaited – and we spoke to Kieran in between training to see how confident he is feeling ahead of the return:

What inspired you to take up boxing?

Boxing had been in our family for centuries really. My father was a boxer and his father before him, so it’s in the blood! (Kieran’s late father Gary Gething won six titles between 1973-1982.)

How did you manage to keep your training up during the pandemic?

Fortunately, I have a gym at my mother’s place, but it was hard, everyone struggled. I stayed in shape, I did a lot of cycling with my brother Connor, but I was sidelined for a long time with an elbow injury that had to have corrective surgery. Luckily, I’m back to full health again and raring to go!

Which boxer do you most admire and why?

Sugar Ray Robinson is a personal favourite, as he was such a complete, all-round boxer and all-time great, but Muhammad Ali will always be ‘The Greatest’ in my family.

How do you feel about the upcoming fight and, win or lose, what does the future hold for you?

Losing isn’t an option! But I’m really excited for the fight, it’ll really get me back into the swing of things and, after this, I’m sure we will have some big fights coming up for my local area.

I’m looking at this four-rounder next, then a six-rounder, followed by an eight, hopefully all this year, so I can go on to some big fights early next year. My last fight was over 10-rounds in the quarter-finals of the Golden Contract Tournament, live on Sky Sports, so I’m hoping to get back to big nights of boxing like that very soon.

The fight takes place on September 25th.  Hopefully this will be the start of a promising comeback for this young Welsh champion.