English champ Nyall plays waiting game

Nyall Berry and his Eastside team after the English title victory

NYALL Berry continues to train with near fanatical intensity for an opponent not yet known. And the clock is ticking.

It’s a familiar scenario. Finding meaningful matches for a fighter who carries dynamite in each fist is no easy task.

Among top contenders, Chelmsley Wood’s English super-bantamweight champ, with only one loss in 15, is about as popular as a virus.

He will fight on Scott Murray’s mammoth September 13 show at Chase Leisure Centre, Cannock. The search to find someone to occupy the opposite corner is on-going.

“I don’t know who I’m fighting,” the 26-year-old shrugged. “It’s not ideal, but it’s life. If I can get a decent opponent at bantam, I’ll be a bantam. If not, then the next best thing.”

Berry and his team are convinced the future lies at bantamweight. “I’ve shown I can make the weight, I was within touching distance of it last time. That’s where my future lies.”

Nyall, who began his career at feather, has suffered defeat and appears to have come back stronger.

Last year, Italian Francesco De Rosa stopped him in eight for the IBF version of the European super-bantam title.

Nyall left the Coventry ring tearful and utterly dejected, studied what went wrong and has peeled off four wins since. In March, redemption was completed by a chilling third round demolition of Lewis Frimpong for the English belt.

“I’ll be completely honest with you, that loss still sticks in my head,” Nyall said. “I’m not constantly thinking about it – my sparring is good, I’m still the same person, but it did devastate me on the night, it’s not completely out of my head.

“I have a lot of pride and it hurt my pride. For me, it’s natural that boxing brings the emotion out. This is my life and I’m struggling to make it happen, so you’re bound to be emotional.”

Importantly, Nyall remembers what defeat tastes like and doesn’t want to taste it again. He is better for it, he insists.

“It has made me a better fighter,” he said. “I think that’s what got me through the Frimpong fight. I was on the ropes, didn’t panic and stopped him off the ropes.”

After the sole setback, ambition burns brighter than ever.

Nyall added: “The dream is a world title, that’s the dream. I’m 26, there’s lots of time to make it happen and, yes, I believe it will happen.”

First, however, someone must be found to face him in Cannock.