Capital boxer Lewis Benson glad to be back after freak injury

The 2014 Commonwealth Games representative has endured a torrid time since his last contest in March, when just weeks after his eighth consecutive pro win over Marek Laskowski at Meadowbank, he wondered if he’d ever see the inside of the boxing ring again.

A searing pain in his lower back during a sparring session left the 25-year-old unable to move off the canvas at Lochend gym.

However, as he makes his return to Meadowbank tonight on the ‘Capital Collision’ bill against Georgian Mikheil Avakian after a seven-month lay-off, Benson is just glad he has a future in the sport.

“I was in absolute agony and didn’t really know what had hit me,” the MTK fighter recalled.

“I just had this excruciating pain in my lower back where I couldn’t get up off the floor. It wasn’t even a hard shot or anything like that but in the end we ended up having to call an ambulance and had to take the ring down on two sides just to get me out and to hospital.

“When I was lying waiting for my results of the scans I really did begin to wonder if I’d ever box again. But nothing showed up so it still is a mystery. It’s taken me a while to get back into full training but I’ve been given the all clear and I’m ready to take a big step forward with another win tonight.”

Light welterweight Benson is hoping to be in title contention early next year. “If it hadn’t been for my injury then it might have been me in a big title fight tonight. My manager Sam [Kynoch] knows what I want and he has assured me that some big fights will be coming my way.”

Meanwhile, lightweight Thomas Dickson has described tonight’s duel with Welshman Rhys Saunders as a “must win”.

The former Leith Victoria amateur, 27, has suffered defeat in two of his past three fights and accepts there is no margin for error. “I know how important this fight is so I’ve prepared for it as well as I can,” Dickson said. “My defeats have been really hard to take and I don’t want to experience that again.”