Rotherham heavyweight Kash Ali ready to roll again after injury-hit year

The IBF European title holder from Rotherham has not fought for nearly 12 months after injuring his hand in his previous fight last February.

It's been an unwelcome hold-up for a fighter with designs on mixing it with the biggest names in the sport.

Now healed and refreshed, he can start making plans.

“2021 was a brilliant year,” he said. “I won the European title and defended it and I was no.11 in the IBF rankings and then I hurt my hand.

“Since then I've been training, not sparring much, and my hand is better.

“Hopefully, fingers crossed, by March I can be on a good platform. Nothing's in writing yet but I think this year is going to be a good one.  It's going to be a big year.”

Since his infamous fight in 2019 when he was disqualified for biting David Price in their scrap in Liverpool, Ali has powered to six straight  wins, five inside the distance.

Had he been active and winning over the last 12 months then he might have been in the frame to share a ring with some star names, including  Anthony Joshua, currently looking for a comeback opponent after his two crushing defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.

But Ali (30) still has options and with a 21-1 win-loss record, he's a worthy opponent in the most glamorous weight division of all.

“I know if I was fighting now I would be in the top ten or top 15 in the rankings,” he said.

“Joshua was rumoured to fighting Demsey McKean, from Australia, next. If I had been top 15 it would have made more sense him fighting me than  some guy from Australia. I think they would have gone for me.

“Where I am now, I could go in any direction.

“I might defend my European title next and then there's the British title held by Fabio Wardley. That's a potential (route) and especially in Britain because when there are two British guys fighting it is a big, big thing.

“I just need a couple of decent wins, European or British level kind of fights, and in the next year or two there will be some massive fights  for me.”

Kash has never been far away from the gym during his time out, still putting in sessions at his trainer Richard Towers' gym at Masbrough.

However it is no substitute for a full-on fight camp.

He added: “You have to be the ultimate professional but you can't keep training and not fighting. You need the motivation, a date. How much do  you push?

“When you have a fight date, automatically you push yourself.

“I want to get out about three times this year but with injuries and stuff, you don't know.

“Let’s just see where I am but one thing's for sure, I'm excited about the future.”