Boxer David Jamieson goes heavyweight as he makes ring return

Boxer David Jamieson will take the first step on a major comeback when he tackles Kaseem Saleem in a heavyweight contest on Friday night.

The East Kilbride fighter hopes the best version of him eases past the Dumfries 35-year-old at the Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central hotel on Friday, with a title bout pencilled in for June.

Jamieson says he has taken his time and listened to his body as he recovered from a jaw break against Mikael Lawal in November 2022 and a devastating defeat to Cheavon Clarke in a British cruiserweight title eliminator in June of last year.

But the 32-year-old says he’s raring to go on Friday and to get ‘back on the horse’.

Jamieson said: “This is definitely the first step on a major comeback for me.

“On the back of the Cheav Clarke loss, I’m sitting at 10th in Britain and we really established ourselves on the British scene.

“The ranking didn’t slide on the back of the loss, and I think Cheav has gone on to prove he’s a major contender in the division, even at world level.

“This fight on Friday is a tune-up for a bigger fight in June. I can’t say much about it, but it’s a possible title on June 22.

“Because I’ve got a foothold on the rankings, we’re going to do this run on our terms, so back out at the end of this week and the end of June, and that sets us up nicely for a big show later in the year.”

A 14-week training camp has Jamieson in great shape, and he says Saleem should worry about him, rather than the other way around.

“I’m shaped up, sitting at 105kg, so fairly settled into heavyweight, and ready to go,” he warned.

“Because I lost as much weight due to the jaw break, I took a bit of time to rebalance my body and put a bit of weight back on.

“I will bring myself gradually back down to cruiserweight, but this one I’m fighting at heavyweight.

“I’ve crossed all the Ts, dotted all the Is. I’ve left no stone unturned.

“Because I’ve had time to get my body right and then go into camp, it has been as plain-sailing as it could be and I’m raring to go.

“I know enough about Kaseem. He’s a big lad, a big, handy boy who can punch, and he has a few one-shot knockouts on his record.

“But at 18-and-a-half stone, anybody can punch, I suppose!

“We’ve been working hard, and if the best version of me goes in there, I’ll let him worry about me.”

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport onX via@LanLiveSport, like us onFacebookor find us onInstagramfor the latest sports news, pictures and video.