Thursday 7 November 2019 13:39, UK
Sam Eggington has promised to "unleash a new animal" when he makes his debut at super-welterweight next month.
The Birmingham favourite was left devastated after he narrowly lost his European title to Frenchman Mohamed Mimoune last October, admitting that his exasperating struggles to make the welterweight limit proved too much to overcome.
'The Savage' has since opted to move up and Eggington, often dubbed 'the English Margarito' because of his fan-friendly fighting style, will debut at 154lb at Liverpool's Echo Arena on April 21, live on Sky Sports.
"I just want to get back in there now and get my name back in the title mix," Eggington exclusively told Sky Sports.
"Making 147lb just proved too much for me, I can't exaggerate it enough, it was dragging everything out of me and I was totally drained on fight night.
"I look back now and I was stubborn, I was willing to do whatever it took to make the weight and keep my title, I knew that welterweight was the money division and I was desperate to stay in the mix.
Seven pounds gives you so much more energy and you feel much better. It's almost like a weight has been lifted and I'll now get back to my best.
"I do believe if I had of fought Mimoune a few fights previously, when I could make the weight well, I would have stopped him. I only lost by a few points and had nothing in the tank to push how I normally do."
'The Savage' has drawn inspiration from Kell Brook who recently made a similar weight move and announced himself emphatically with a second-round demolition of Sergey Rabchenko in Sheffield.
"You look at Brook and you can see the difference," Eggington continued.
"Those seven pounds just gives you so much more energy and you generally feel much better. It's almost like a weight has been lifted.
"You go through a lot mentally, as well. I was beginning camp knowing how much weight I have to cut down and it was draining me before I had even got going.
"It's now about unleashing an animal again. I've got this six or eight rounder coming up in April, to settle into the weight and then, I want a Euro title again."
