Ballingall will fight back as he's dealt bad hand

Lucas Ballingall has been told his day will come after being dealt injury heartbreak.
Lucas Ballingall. Picture: Mick Young (160773-18)Lucas Ballingall. Picture: Mick Young (160773-18)
Lucas Ballingall. Picture: Mick Young (160773-18)

The Portsmouth featherweight has been forced to pull out of his Southern Area title clash with Jamie Speight on Saturday.

Ballingall had to take the gut-wrenching decision to call off the match-up due to hand injuries.

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The 5-0 man was bidding to become the youngest winner of the title in its history in the Torquay fight.

But the 19-year-old’s team had to take the decision to withdraw from the contest as they watched Ballingall struggle with the problems.

Ballingall was given two cortisone injections in an effort to deal with the hand injuries.

They failed to have the desired effect – leading to his trainer and father, Michael Ballingall, pulling the plug on the contest.

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He explained the boxer was still determined to go ahead but he had to make the call to protect his future.

Ballingall Snr said: ‘It’s frustrating but the only decision to make.

‘Lucas had a cortisone injection into the right hand.

‘That worked but he then started getting pain in the same spot on the other hand.

‘So he had another injection in that and waited for a few days.

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‘We were falling behind on the sparring but we thought it was okay. He started getting the pain again though, so had a second injection in the left hand.

‘We were sparring but things were looking a bit iffy.

‘Then when we went to do pads on Friday he could barely hit them.

‘I wanted to pull it there but Lucas was begging me not to.

‘Then we had someone down from London for sparring on Saturday and Lucas couldn’t push the shots through, so we stopped it.

‘Lucas was saying he would fight with one hand but Jamie Speight is no mug. Jamie has a go so we needed to be on the ball.

‘Lucas is only a kid and can fight another day.’

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Ballingall is prepared for the whispers the contest with Speight was dodged by his charge.

He accepted the former Moneyfields talent currently has little standing in the fight game but his faith that will change down the line was central to the decision.

Ballingall said: ‘I can understand they won’t be happy but I have to think of the health and safety of my fighter.

‘Lucas can heal from this and come back. It’s entirely my decision and, at the end of the day, it’s final.

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‘All I care about is my fighter. We will move on. At the moment we’re nothing but in the next 18 months we’ll bypass people like Jamie Speight.

‘It will happen for Lucas. We have to move on. People can say we’ve bottled it. That’s fine.

‘He’s 19 and has a big future still.’