It's all or nothing for Downing

West Bromwich welterweight Wayne Downing admits it's all or nothing after coming out of retirement and straight into a shot at the vacant British Masters title.

The popular fighter returns to the ring at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on June 6, exactly six days after the first anniversary of calling time on his professional career to concentrate on his career as a boxing trainer.

In truth, Downing had been making plans to step through the ropes again as early as last November, after being enticed back into action by the prospect of a British Masters shot at light welter against Brierley Hill's Martin Gordon.

The fight was called off when he failed to make the weight, after turning 30 over the festive season, opening the door for Tipton's Rob Doody to beat Gordon for the title which is now vacant again.

It left the door for Downing to step up to his more natural welter division and has already come through one weigh in, after shedding a stone-and-half in just over three weeks.

Standing in his way is Coventry southpaw Sean McKervey over 10 rounds and the stakes are high, in the first chance either has had to be a champion.

Win, and it's a great comeback story. Lose, and coming out of retirement may not have been such a good idea after all.

He said: "Definitely, if this goes pear shaped for me there is no coming back this time. It's a big ask to go 10 rounds in my first fight back, but the one thing you never lose is your punch power.

"At the start rust was at the back of my mind, but the first sparring session just wiped that completely out of my mind."

Downing, with a 5-8-0 record to his opponent's 6-2-1, feels his technical skills will be too much to handle on the day, against a rugged brawler who just keeps on coming.

And the Black Country boxer feels his work as a trainer gives him another edge, having worked the opposition corner for McKervey's last two fights.

He said: "Automatically, I think I have got one over on him, because I have took somebody into the ring against him twice. When you are in there yourself, you can't see what you are doing wrong but as a trainer you can sit back and see everything.

"I know what Sean is all about, another southpaw who keeps coming forward. He's quite easy to hit but he won't stop, I have taken a 10-round fight and I expect to still be there at the end of it.

"My game plan is to stay sharp, use my reach because I am a bit taller than him, counter his mistakes and then get out of there before he lets his shots go."

For tickets, call the box office on 0870 320 7000 or promoter Paul 'PJ' Rowson on 07976 283 157.

The 10-fight show will also be broadcast online live on pay-per view at a cost of just £2.99, through Hatton TV at www.brandhatton.com.