By Jake Donovan

Far too often in boxing, a boxer's pride and courage is trumped by a promoter or manager who'd rather apply kid gloves in said athlete's career development. Such line of thinking is even more commonplace in the wake of a early loss. 

Whatever desire Luke Campbell has to move from the lone defeat of his career has come with the full support of promoter Eddie Hearn, who continues to advance the 28-year old southpaw at a brisk pace.

Next up for the 2012 Olympic Gold medalist is a July 30 showdown with former super featherweight titlist Algenis Mendez, a fight that has recently been added to a Sky Sports telecast topped by Josh Warrington and Patrick Hyland squaring off in a 12-round featherweight clash. The show takes place at First Direct Arena in Warrington's hometown of Leeds, England. 

“Delighted to announce that Luke Campbell will face former 130lb King (Algenis) Mendez at Leeds Arena on July 30-real fight on packed card,” Hearn announced through his verified social media account on Saturday.

The bout will be the second back for Campbell (13-1, 11KOs) following a stunning split decision loss to Yvan Mendy last December in London. The setback also marked the first time in his young career that the Brit tasted the canvas, though he has bounced back strong with a 2nd round knockout of Gary Sykes this past March. 

Prior to falling just short versus Mendy. Campbell posted the best win of his career, a 10th round stoppage of Tommy Coyle in what was billed as a title eliminator. There is talks of getting him back into the championship mix, as Hearn recently suggested to IFL's Kugan Cassius that he'd like to match Campbell with recently crowned WBC titlist Dejan Zlaticanin somewhere in the near future. 

First, Campbell has to get past a former champ in Mendez (23-4-1, 12KOs), himself on the comeback trail following the lone stoppage loss of his career.

A member of the 2004 Dominican Republic Olympic boxing squad, the 29-year old Mendez emerged as a top player in the super featherweight division. It took two tries to achieve his dream of becoming a champion, moving past a disputed 12-round loss to Juan Carlos Salgado in Sept. '11 with an emphatic 4th round stoppage in their March '13 rematch.

Strangely, the title winning effort was his lone victory amidst a title reign that managed to stretch out 17 months. His first defense resulted in a disputed 12-round draw with Arash Usmanee, in an ESPN2-televised bout most had Mendez winning.

Far more controversial were the circumstances surrounding his knockout loss-turned-No-Decision in his first fight with Rances Barthelemy. The first of their two-fight set took place in Jan. '14, with a depleted Mendez dropped in round two and then knocked out well after the bell to end the round. Barthelemy was initially hailed a knockout winner, only for the verdict to be overturned by the Minnesota commission later that month due to referee Peter Podgorski failing to acknowledge the round had ended. 

Mendez wasn't as fortunate in their rematch, dropping a clear 12-round decision in a dull affair six months later. The fight was his last at super featherweight or on the title stage, though he's since scored two wins at lightweight including a 10-round decision over former 135-pound champ Miguel Vazquez last September.

The streak was violently snapped in a 4th round knockout loss to rising unbeaten contender Robert Easter Jr. this past April. That said, the night was more about Easter Jr's potential as a future lightweight king than Mendez appearing on the slide. As such, he represents the most experienced and arguably the most dangerous foe to date for Campbell, coming on what is becoming a loaded night of action on the UK scene. 

“Leeds looking strong,” Hearn noted of the recent additions to the show. “Warrington v Hyland, Campbell v Mendez, (Tyrone) Nurse v (Tommy) Coyle, (Gamal) Yafai v (Josh) Wale plus (Dillian) Whyte, (Sam) Eggington, (Frankie) Gavin and more!”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2