Derry Matthews - 'My revenge fight with Lawton won't go the distance'

I have always found boxing a wonderful roller coaster ride. One minute a fighter can be on top of the world, the next people can be labelling him as finished. It can also go the other way. You can be regarded as at the end of the road, next thing the world opens up for you once again. This is pretty much the life that Liverpool’s ‘Dirty’ Derry Matthews has lived in for the last three years.

Let’s rewind a little bit further back than that. The date is 14th October 2006; the place in the MEN Arena in Manchester and the opponent is unbeaten hometown prospect Stephen Foster Jnr. Derry Matthews proceeds to dish out a boxing lesson to his much fancied opponent and the world is now his oyster. Victories over John Simpson and Matthew Marsh follow. He is headlining ITV shows and many are talking about Derry as being a future world champion (not the WBU trinket he holds).

Fast forward to April 2008 and in the opposite corner Choi Tseveenpurev. Now Choi is not a man you want to meet in a dark alley; he is hard, tough, punches well. But does he really have enough to dethrone Derry? Surely Matthews will have too much skill for him?

Bang, it all goes wrong. Five rounds later Dave Parris calls a halt to the fight, Derry has been brutalised in what many consider the shock of the year. The unbeaten record is now shattered.

After coming back against tough John Gicharu, Derry is lined up to face Irish prospect Martin Lindsay in a British featherweight title eliminator. After a competitive fight Matthew is knocked out in nine rounds.

Then came the bad times. The next two fights saw Matthews defeated and stopped, against Harry Ramagoadi in four, and Scott Lawton in six, both fights he was expected to win. It seemed that at 26, once stellar prospect Derry Matthews was finished. The man himself seemed to agree, for a while at least.

“I had lost my hunger. I had loads of personal problems outside the ring so I packed it in. I hung up my gloves and set up my own boxing academy in Liverpool. I went round schools and youth clubs giving good advice to kids, trying to get them off the streets. To this day I still do it and enjoy every minute. I am working with kids seven days a week and long may it continue.”

Still, something was missing; the bug stared to surface. “Coaching these kids made me want to try again. I got the hunger back and realised I still had so much to offer.”

The question was where to go. Obviously things needed to be shaken up. This would be his last chance and he had to make the right decision. It was then that an old friend came with some advice.

“I was thinking about moving to London but having two kids I couldn’t leave them. Then I got chatting with an old friend of mine, ex-pro Shaun Farmer who asked why I didn’t go to Oliver Harrison and work there. To this day I haven’t looked back; I’m loving it there, although I am getting loads of stick from my mates for being a ‘Manc’" (he laughs).

After two low profile wins Kristian Laight and Daniel Thorpe, Derry was given a spot in the latest Prizefighter, ‘The super-featherweights.’ This was a real acid test of what he had left. Many of his old fans waited with a mixture of anticipation and baited breath as the day drew closer. Matthews on the other hand had no such worries.

“I always expected to win it as I knew I had more skill and power than all the other fighters . I had had a great training camp with Oliver and beaten a few demons.”

The night turned out to be a real success for Matthews. After dropping and stopping Scotsman Gary McArthur in the third, Matthews met up with his original nemesis Choi in the semi-final. No-one could have blamed Derry for fighting with an element of fear in this one. Last time they met we all saw what happened. Matthews had no such apprehension however, going toe-to toe over the next three rounds in a brutal encounter. Matthews overcame some rocky moment himself to nearly stop his opponent at one stage, and edging the fight by a score of 29-28 on all judges’ scorecards.

Next up in the final was Welshman Gary Buckland. In the end this was a fight too far, Matthews being dropped in the first before being stopped in the second. Many suggested that the result proved that there was some evidence that Derry still had a touch of fragility about him. Matthews, on the other hand begs to differ.

“I lost to a great fighter and a well deserved winner. But you have to remember that I had just come out of a war with Choi, whilst he had knocked out Gary Sykes in one round. I was shattered going into that final mentally and physically. Like I have said to others, if I had met Gary Buckland in the first round I would have given him a boxing lesson."

The night proved that Derry Matthews was back. But the question was, where would he go from here, what path would be taken? Funnily enough, so soon after one bad memory was extinguished, he would get the chance to redeem himself against the man who had punished him into retirement.

“I am now going to be fighting against Scott Lawton on January 22nd, at the Olympia in Liverpool for the IBO intercontinental belt. When I fought Scott last time I was winning the fight, but as I said, I was having problems away from boxing. Now he is getting the 100% Derry Matthews!”

And Matthews has no doubt how the fight will go.

“This fight ain't going twelve rounds. I am going to be too fast and too strong for him, I am going to come away a champion again!”

So, after this long and winding road, what does the future hold for Derry Matthews? Derry knows exactly where his sights are set. “After I have won this fight I am going to sit down and take it from there. But I want that British title and I know I am going to get it. With Oliver Harrison in my corner I can’t go wrong.”

It would take a brave man to bet against him. One suspects we are about to be reminded of just how good Derry Matthews actually is.