No-show from coach was the final straw for Thomas Dickson

Thomas Dickson, left, will fight on Billy Joe Saunders undercard in Paisley on Saturday

The MGM fighter suffered the first setback of his professional career at Meadowbank five weeks ago and although not wishing to pin the blame solely on his former mentor for the defeat, Dickson admitted Graham’s actions just hours before he was due to box angered him.

Having made an informed decision to promote Glasgow’s former European welterweight champion Gary Jacobs as his new head coach, Dickson says Graham took a huge exception to the move.

The former Leith Victoria  amateur though, who celebrates his 27th birthday today, is looking for a positive reaction at the Paisley Lagoon Centre on Saturday night when he makes his return to the ring against compatriot Leon Roberts (1-0) of Prestwick.

“Jack was my coach as an amateur and started with me when I turned professional,” Dickson explained. “But having taken on Gary Jacobs earlier this year I made the decision I wanted Gary to be the number one guy in my corner, I explained my reasons why and Jack didn’t like it. He didn’t agree with it.

“But I’d spoken with Jack just the day before my last fight and had arranged a time for him to pick me up to take me to the venue but he didn’t show. I had no phone call, message or any explanation as to why he wasn’t there which really bothered me.

“I was really hurt by his actions but at the end of the day I should have been more professional and been able to block it out and I paid the price for it losing to Ellison.

“For someone who I have trusted for four years to do that really set me back. I let my heart rule my head unfortunately and I should have dealt with it after the fight.

“I was heartbroken to lose as it’s something no boxer ever wants to experience,” Dickson continued. “It sounds silly but I was embarrassed as I had a lot of my friends there to support me and I let them down. I’ve never claimed to be Floyd Mayweather Jr and that I am never going to lose or be like Mike Tyson and knock everyone out, but I want to be the best I can and give myself the best  opportunity.

“It is what it is though, it’s done so I need to move on. There’s always something that’s out there to distract you but my job is to stay focused. We won’t be working together again but I’ve said to him let’s just draw a line under it and see if we can still be friends.”

Nevertheless, Dickson will have the opportunity to prove he is back with a vengeance live on BoxNation this weekend. The sport’s leading pay-per-view TV channel is in Scotland to broadcast exclusively live Billy Joe Saunders’ first defence of his WBO world middleweight title duel with Russian, Artur Akavov.

“If someone had said to me 18 months ago I’d be fighting on a world title undercard and would have Billy Joe Saunders to train alongside in the gym a couple of nights ago, I would never have believed you,”  Dickson said. “It inspires you. I want to finish the year strong before I start making plans for next year.

“I just need to go out and do my job on Saturday and get back to winning ways with my sixth victory. I’m training through in Glasgow now five nights per week at the MGM gym with Gary and feel much better for it. I’m looking to change a few more things.”

Elsewhere, Light heavyweight Tommy Philbin is seeking his seventh consecutive win as a paid fighter when he goes  head-to-head with Kelvin Young (18-7-2).