New year and new start for ambitious Parker

Duane Parker is looking to put the memories of his last fight firmly behind him. 

The skillful Woodville crowd-pleaser [pictured] suffered his first defeat as a professional fighter nine months ago and hasn't laced-on the gloves in competitive action since.

But he returns over six rounds at Burton's Meadowside Leisure Centre on March 30, on the undercard of Jonjo Finnegan's ten-round grudge clash with Ryan Clark for the International Masters super-middleweight belt, with renewed enthusiasm and with hopes of throwing himself into the mix for a title during 2012.

Paul Rowson promotes the good-looking seven-fight bill from a noisy Staffordshire venue that Parker hasn't boxed at for 17 months. He's had his last three [and five of his last six] in Birmingham and the Second City has left him with a bad taste in his mouth after his shock stoppage loss last year.

Entering with a blemish-free 13-fight record that had seen him drop only a handful of the 74 rounds he'd boxed, Parker was expected to dismiss Richard Troupe and move onto a Masters title fight in the autumn. But he was unexpectedly dropped twice and halted by the unheralded Hull scrapper in the fourth of a set eight that curtailed his immediate championship ambitions.

That weight-weakened showing convinced the tall, long-armed Derbyshire-based boxer to ply his trade six pounds north of 11st at middleweight - and he sees a bright future in a division that's ruled by Martin Concepcion in the Midlands and Martin Murray [the British and Commonwealth boss] domestically.

But before he can contemplate fights over ten or 12 rounds, Duane admits he needs to get the feel of the ring again. "I haven't boxed since June, so it's important that i shred some rust and get some of the timing back that only comes in an actual contest," said the 24-year-old former Burton ABC unpaid performer, who's a proud father to a pair of girls.

"I think that i'll be better and stronger at middleweight and that's were i see my future," he continued. "There are plenty of good fights around at the weight, both on the Midlands scene and at British level, and i'm going to put myself in the mix when i step back inside the ropes in just over three weeks.

"It's great to be boxing at a home venue again and it's going to be an explosive return from me," Parker added.