Super bantamweight Billy Stuart insists he is firmly back on track after bouncing back in style from the first defeat of his professional boxing career.
Northern Sporting Club star Stuart stopped Alexandru Ionita at the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom with an impressive display.
Romanian Ionita had no answer for the 23-year-old’s quick combinations and body shots and did not come out of his corner after the fifth round of the scheduled eight.
Stuart piled pressure on himself to win in style, having suffered a majority decision loss to Mexican Alejandro Jair Gonzalez in an IBF Youth world title fight in July this year.
It was the first set-back of BUI Celtic champion Stuart’s pro-career.
Having recovered with a stoppage victory, Stuart is now targeting a title shot next year.
Stuart said: “I needed to win that fight and I put a lot of pressure on myself.
“A lot of people were saying to me that I shouldn’t feel any pressure, that I should just go back into the ring, enjoy it and do my thing.
“However, I was thinking if I get beat here again I would be as well just hanging up the gloves.
“I got all down on myself after the defeat (to Gonzalez) because I like to rate myself highly.
“I have self belief and believe I am better than most in boxing in my weight.
“That is the way it’s supposed to be.
“Winning by stoppage at the Beach Ballroom gave me a real boost again.
“I really enjoyed it.”
Fight could have been stopped earlier
Stuart completely dominated the contest against 25-year-old Ionita, who had a record of seven wins (five KO), 10 losses (four KO) and one draw.
The Macduff boxer, who trains in Aberdeen, won every round to secure his 11th win in 12 pro contests.
It was the fourth stoppage of Stuart’s career.
Stuart, aka ‘The Butcher’, said: “I thought I could have stopped it earlier.
“It was good to get back to winning ways and show aspects that I had learnt from the last fight.
“I’m hard to please, I really am. I’m a perfectionist.
“I got him with good body shots and he didn’t like them.
“I could see from his face every time I landed them they were hurting.
“It was good to get another KO.
“The referee came over to the corner and lifted my arm.
“I thought what’s going on here, am I getting a point taken off or something?”
Targeting another title shot in 2022
Stuart signed to Dennis Hobson promotions earlier this year and was immediately rewarded with the high profile IBF Youth title fight this summer.
Both his fights since signing for Hobson, who oversaw Ricky Hatton’s rise to world title glory, have been broadcast live on Fightzone.
Stuart is targeting another major title shot for next year.
He said: “There will maybe be another eight rounder then we’ll see what happens.
“Dennis Hobson is the man, he sets up the shows.
“He and my manager David McAllister will get a few options on the table and we will pick what is best depending on how I am performing at the time.
“You have to be smart with it and pick your time in the professional game.
“I have done all my leaning and want to build my career now.
“Hopefully I can get another title fight next year.”
No respite in training for Stuart
Despite gruelling back to back training camps, there will be no let up for Stuart as he looks to build on the momentum of his stoppage defeat of Ionita.
Signed to Northern Sporting Club, Stuart trains at the Granite City ABC in Aberdeen and also works with renowned performance specialist/sports scientist Andrew Usher at the gym.
Stuart said: “I’ll be back in the gym pretty soon as I don’t want to let the weight go back on especially over this time of the year at Christmas.
“That win has given me the boost to continue training hard.
“I had a hard training camp before the IBF title fight.
“I had about a week off then I was straight into a training camp again for the Beach Ballroom fight.”
Confident he can beat Gonzalez
Stuart may be back on track after his IBF Youth title loss to Gonzalez, but he remains convinced he could beat the Mexican in a rematch.
The IBF Youth world title showdown was Stuart’s first fight in almost two years due to the shutdown of boxing during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
In contrast, Gonzalez had fought three times in the seven months in Mexico leading up to facing Stuart at New Douglas Park, Hamilton.
Stuart said: “I know for a fact I have the beating of Gonzalez.
“Maybe if I boxed a wee bit better like I did at the Beach Ballroom and was a bit more explosive and went in to hurt him.
“It’s all ifs and buts though – I have to move on.”
