BRADFORD boxer Darren Tetley has vowed to face his demons as he plots a return to the ring.

The Holme Wood star hasn’t fought since his points defeat to Dom Hunt back in September last year – where he also suffered a hand injury – which was eventually confirmed as a sagittal band rupture.

In January Tetley flirted with the idea of retirement following his frustrations at the end of 2022, however, after three months away from the sport recovering, the Bradford fighter is eager to commit to boxing once again.

At 29, Tetley (21-4-0) admitted that the injury layoff could have been one of the best things to have happened to him.

He said: “It’s been a strange but positive time for me having these three months away from boxing with the injury. I had lots of meeting with doctors and physios, but they didn’t want to do surgery on my hand because they said that it might not ever go back to its original state. So, I’ve been off work for the past three months, I’ve not been able to train in that time and I’ve not even been able to throw a punch. Thankfully, they gave me several exercises to do to help strengthen my hand again.

“On paper the three months that I took off would have usually been bad news, but it was far from that; instead, it was extremely valuable to me. It gave me time to have a good think about my boxing career and to re-evaluate things. My mindset after the Dom Hunt fight and injury was that I’d had enough with the sport, and I was ready to throw my toys out of the pram. But, after thinking about the difficulties of my last fight, my injury, the training camp and making weight, I realised that the things that went wrong were all down to me.”

Tetley added: “For example, I found it hard to make weight for the Dom Hunt fight, but I was having cans of pop, chocolate and other unhealthy food in the lead up to the fight. It’s alright saying that you struggled to make weight, but I didn’t need to make it a struggle because there were some things that I certainly could have changed. That three months off just allowed me to look in the mirror and really question why some things weren’t going well. Sparring was hard, making weight was hard and that was all because of me.”

Tetley, who fought at Wembley Stadium in front of 94,000 on the Tyson Fury versus Dillian Whyte undercard just over a year ago, confirmed his intention to return to the ring again after so nearly quitting at the beginning of the year.

He said: “During my time off, I was able to watch a lot of boxing on the TV and I was thinking that this can’t be it; I can’t let this career be over and let it slip away. I was being extremely unprofessional before I had this time out and I thoroughly believe that I got what I deserved. Thankfully, I know that I’m not passed it, I’ve still very much got it and it’s made me wake up to the reality of the situation. I didn’t show commitment in the lead up to my last fight, but I’ve now got a chance to put it right. It feels like I’ve been given a second chance to have a crack at this and fight away my demons, and that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’m more committed than ever to put my name amongst the best in the welterweight division.

 Tetley is set for a return with his next bout scheduled for June – where he travels to Bolton to take on an unnamed opponent (details to be announced soon).

Looking ahead to his return the Bradford boxer said: “Training has been going really well over the past three weeks and my hand is feeling strong. I’m concentrating on building my fitness and confidence up to peak level. I need to get back to feeling good about myself while focusing on my strengths. For too long, I’ve doubted myself and constantly put pressure on myself to do certain things like knock opponents out. I shouldn’t be doing that because that’s not my main strength. In the Dom Hunt fight, I got too close, stood in the middle of the ring and didn’t keep my distance, and that’s not me as a fighter.

Tetley added: “Yes, most fighters say that they won’t look past their next opponents, but that really is the case for me. I’m ready to put my all into this camp, build up my confidence and get back to doing what I do best. It’s something I’m extremely looking forward to.”