Waterlooville teenage prospect determined to put damaging professional debut defeat behind him on return in front of home Portsmouth support

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Liam Wiseman insists the pressure is off as he prepares for a ring return after a devastating professional debut defeat.

The Waterlooville prospect was controversially counted out and beaten by vastly experienced journeyman Paul Cummings on what was his first taste of the boxing big-time last month at York Hall.

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It was an early pro career ‘mistake’ which took Wiseman a brief period of time to overcome – initially planning on walking away from the sport in the wake of the gut-wrenching experience – but now he is rejuvenated and ready to show his following exactly what he is capable of in the paid ranks.

But his character can certainly not be questioned as, just six weeks after a debut he'll never forget for all the wrong reasons, the 19-year-old is gearing up for a super-welterweight contest with Nicaraguan Berman Sanchez in front of his home support on the Atlantic Promotion 'Temperature Rising' show on South Parade Pier on Saturday.

Liam Wiseman is targeting bouncing back from his professional debut defeat when he faces Nicaraguan Berman Sanchez on South Parade Pier this SaturdayLiam Wiseman is targeting bouncing back from his professional debut defeat when he faces Nicaraguan Berman Sanchez on South Parade Pier this Saturday
Liam Wiseman is targeting bouncing back from his professional debut defeat when he faces Nicaraguan Berman Sanchez on South Parade Pier this Saturday

And heading into battle with a 0-1 pro record, Wiseman feels as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders as he bids to secure a maiden pro victory.

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‘I had a lot of pressure on me, but all the pressure has gone now, now that I've lost, I've got no pressure on me,’ Wiseman told The News.

‘I'm glad to be back out there, it's good, I couldn't leave it, go with the one loss and wait until the end of the year because that's not me - I'm not a loser. I've got a great winners’ attitude, I've got a great attitude all-round to the sport, I'm in love with the sport. I couldn't have that much time away from it at all.

He continued: ‘It's been a very tough experience to start off my boxing career. Losing on your professional debut is hard to come back from. A lot of people have told me it's good I'm jumping back on the horse and getting straight back out there.

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‘At the end of the day, what happened, happened, it was a mistake which I made - a few things went wrong on the day in preparation for it - but we can't make any excuses. I take what happened on the chin.’

Wiseman's four-round contest with Central American fighter Sanchez, who holds overall record of 29-18-3 - with 21 of his victories coming by knock-out - will be one of seven bouts on the South Parade Pier card.

Headlining the show is Leigh Park’s Joel McIntyre, who faces Poland's Pawel Strykowski in a light-heavyweight contest. Bognor-based Billy Castle, Ashley Leigh and Kieron Ghilpin will all be making their pro bows on the card.

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While 9-1-1 Derek Renfrew takes on Latvian Kristaps Zulgis in a six-round super-middleweight showdown, with Jimmy Cooper's super-welterweight meeting with Mexican Fernando Valencia completing the South Parade Pier Atlantic Promotions show.

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