Brook vs DeLuca: John Docherty vows to become a fearsome champion for Scotland
"If you're fazed by someone in boxing then there's no point being there. I'm not scared of anyone in boxing"
Friday 7 February 2020 07:04, UK
John Docherty tells Sky Sports why title success is the only option, his reckless approach to British rivals, and how Scotland will soon see a fearsome champion.
Despite being only 22 years old and having just had seven fights, former Team GB member Docherty is already placing a large amount of pressure on his inexperienced shoulders.
The Scottish super-middleweight, who left Montrose for London, is trained by Tony Sims and makes his 2020 bow on the Kell Brook-Mark De Luca bill in Sheffield this Saturday night, live on Sky Sports.
Reminding himself there can be no slip-ups, the Inverness-born southpaw reveals a fearless, steely focus as well as some brutal truths you might not expect from a rising young contender.
"In the amateurs you can get away with a few things and have a slip-up," Docherty told Sky Sports. "If I lose now I've got nothing else. I don't know anything else. All I've done is boxing so I can't lose and that's in my mind."
A bold statement from the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, but Docherty, who has stopped five of his seven opponents from Newcastle to Glasgow via Florence, is on a mission to win titles, knock people out and get to the top - with or without the British title - and appears to be unaware of the word "fazed".
"I'm fazed by no one," he swiftly responds when asked. "If you're fazed by someone in boxing then there's no point being there. I'm not scared of anyone in boxing. I'm here to take risks and if the risk has benefit then great but I know my ability and Tony knows my ability. At British level just now I can really dominate. I've seen the British champion, if I was to fight him next I'd beat him."
Fellow southpaw Lerrone Richards is the current Lonsdale belt holder, but Docherty is not interested in waiting around for a shot at the coveted British title held by 'Sniper The Boss'. The Scot believes that belt will be in the hands of Richards and a rival promotional company for a while yet, so other options will be explored in the pursuit of taking Docherty to titles of some variety. But for that to happen there has to be opponents willing to step up and face the 168lbs prospect.
I'm a novice in this game just now and no-one really wants to fight me so what's going to happen when I'm up at the top?
Docherty told Sky Sports about the frustrations he has experienced of opponents pulling out and is looking forward to the day a man weighs in at the 12 stone limit and comes to fight him.
"Everyone was really liking me and I was stopping everyone after five fights, but it was coming to a point where Tony was saying 'start getting the rounds'," Docherty recalled. "I then did a six-rounder against a very durable opponent [Lewis Van Poetsch]. I was supposed to be fighting another good kid, who was coming to fight, before that but he pulled out after the weigh-in. That last camp there, seven boys pulled out. We went through seven opponents.
"I'm a super-middleweight, not a light-heavyweight, but I've been fighting light-heavyweights my last two fights. We just can't get the opponents. We've been trying and trying and trying. I'm fighting boys a good bit heavier than me, but once I get boys who are on weight and make 12 stone you'll see the strength difference between me and the boys at my weight.
"I'm a novice in this game just now and no one really wants to fight me so what's going to happen when I'm up at the top? When I get in a position to fight them, then they've got no option. When someone does start coming to fight, and is there to be hit, you'll see bigger knockouts then."
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The fast-paced progress continues for the exciting talent, who is hoping to headline a show in Scotland in the future.
"He's a fiercely ambitious young man," his promoter Eddie Hearn said when he signed him to the Matchroom stable in July 2018. Eighteen months on and it is a ferocity and ambition that certainly has the domestic division on notice.
Watch Kell Brook vs Mark DeLuca in Sheffield on Saturday, from 7pm on Sky Sports Arena.
