Comfortable win in the capital for Borders boxer McCallum

A contingent of Borders fans cheered McCallum on in London to a comfortable win over Lewis van Poetsch.

The Bristol fighter, with nine previous knockouts to his name, was an 11th-hour replacement for McCallum’s scheduled opponent Issa Akberbayev, of Kazakhstan, after he failed a Covid-19 test earlier in the week.

That late change also meant the bout was shortened from eight rounds to four – with McCallum winning each of them.

McCallum, 33, previously of Galashiels and Melrose, hopes another WBO international win will enable him to meet 6ft 5in Russian southpaw heavyweight Evgeny Tishchenko again, for the WBO cruiserweight belt, after losing to him in a second-round stoppage in Russia last November.

As an amateur, Tishchenko was a two-time Olympic gold medallist, twice European champion and two-time world champion.

An injured left hand, however, means McCallum will have to await medical advice before his next fight is arranged.

He said he’d trained and prepared for a longer fight against a much taller opponent in Akberbayev but he was very grateful to van Poetsch for stepping in at such a late stage.

McCallum feared he may have fractured his hand during the bout with the West Country boxer but was to seek expert treatment before returning to the ring.

He is hopeful, if the hand injury has cleared up, that he may box again in late September or early October, again in London.

Until then, McCallum said he was back in the gym this week, concentrating on running, strength and conditioning work.