BARRHEAD boxer Gary Rae insists he can’t wait to get back in the ring despite admitting to feeling the pressure in his first professional fight.

Rae returns to the ring for the first time since his pro debut tonight at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow when he takes on Brett Fidoe.

The former Barrhead ABC fighter made his step up to the professional ranks in November when he stopped Jules Phillips in the second round.

However the young boxer conceded a long build up to the fight after a near year-long injury lay-off had a mental impact on him, but he is confident those first round nerves are behind him and says he can’t wait for tonight’s fight.

He said: “I’m desperate to get back in the ring. It’s not been long since my last fight but it is all about keeping busy and putting all the training I’ve been doing into practice and not letting it go to waste.

“In my last fight I put him down with a body shot towards the end of the first round and stopped him in the second. I was really nervous and I think people watching could sense that too.

“Everything was so new to me, I was a bit jittery, my shoulders were awful tight. I feel I relaxed into the fight as it went on.

“I had been out the ring through injury for 11 months, I broke my right hand then I broke a knuckle on my left hand.”

Rae will do well to knock out his next opponent in such emphatic style. Brett Fidoe has a heavy negative record but has only ever been knocked out by Team GB fighter Andrew Selby.

The Barrhead super bantamweight knows a stoppage will send a message he will soon be challenging for titles, but he is preparing to go the distance.

“I’m not going out looking for a stoppage, if it comes it comes but I have to prepare for a hard fight. If I can stop him it would send out a great message because he has only been stopped once in his career.

“At the same time I have to taste what it is like going into deeper rounds, it’s okay doing it in sparring but I have to feel the pressure under the lights to progress.

“I’d just like to mention Jim Allan who sadly passed away on New Year’s Day. I know his son John well and the family are obviously going through a tough time, Jim did a lot for the community.”