By John Hannen

John Hannen speaks to the 15-1 (6) Prizefighter: The heavyweights finalist about his next move.

How pleased were you with your recent points win (18 September 2011) against Hastings Rasani?

Well I hadn’t fought for two and a half years so I was ring rusty and I was trying too hard, but I felt really strong and I’ve brought the power down from heavyweight.

 

I had Rasani out on his feet in the first, second and third, and every round I had him in trouble. He was in survival mode and is a typical good journeyman but I was trying too hard and was smothering my work.

As the first fight back though I was pleased with my performance and people have said it was the strongest and quickest I’ve ever looked.

You’ve been out for a long time with injury.  Are you completely injury free now – and what made you come back?

Yes, I feel great now.

The injury was general wear and tear, but I also over-extended my arm during sparring and I should have just rested it because it got worse and worse.  Before Prizefighter [12 September 2008], when I was sparring my arm was in agony so I was having cortisone injections which is just a masking agent so I was just damaging it further. 

It was always in the back of my mind that I hadn’t accomplished in boxing what I should have. For the last year and a half I’ve been enjoying training and running. I’ve been doing a lot of strength and conditioning work and as I was losing weight I was actually getting stronger. When I got under 16 stones I thought ‘I wonder if I can make cruiser’ and then I had something to work towards.  I feel like I’ve got a new lease of life and I’m happier than ever to be honest. I’ve definitely got unfinished business in boxing!

You’re down at cruiserweight now.  What are your short and long term goals? 

Well my main aim is to get the British title as soon as possible!  At the current moment I wouldn’t mind a fight against Jon-Lewis Dickinson for the Northern Area [title] and obviously he’s ranked in the top five in the country so it would be nice to get a 10 rounder against him.

It would be good to get the Dickinson fight before Christmas and then just crack on as quickly as I can.  I’ve been out that long that I don’t want to wait around and muck about. 

The Dickinson fight would be great for the North East and I’m confident I’d win. I watched his last fight against Dolan, he’s a good fighter but I just think I’d have too much for him.

At cruiser I’m very strong and heavy handed and I’m super fit.  I’m stronger now than what I was at heavyweight.  I’m told now by lads I was sparring at heavyweight that I’m harder to hit, am quicker and am punching harder – so it’s a real confidence boost.