FORMER European champion Lee McGregor still believes he has what it takes to reach the very top as he prepares to step back into the ring.
The featherweight was tipped to join Scotland’s list of boxing world champions when he turned professional towards the end of 2017.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic, two defeats and bad luck have seen him fail to reach that level – yet.
He steps back into the ring next month when he is part of the card at Glasgow’s DoubleTree by Hilton on Friday, March 13.
He said: “I’m going to have to build myself back again on small hall shows.
“I believe in myself and I am doing everything I can in my power.”
McGregor last fought in May last year, when he lost out to fellow Scotsman Nathaniel Collins at Glasgow’s Hydro.
The 29-year-old, who lives in the west of the county, said: “Obviously, the fight in May did not go the way that I wanted it to go.”
“We were chipping away, trying my best to get back but coming off a loss it can be difficult to get another big fight.
“It is hard and it is not as easy as you might think.
“I am still training and doing what I can in the background.
“I took myself down to Liverpool for five or six weeks and I was ready to really hit the ground running and give it everything.
“I left the family, got digs and had a big fight lined up just before Christmas.
“It was going to be in Nigeria and everything was going well for that.
“A couple of weeks out, I was sparring and preparing when I fractured my orbital bone and that was me out for the rest of the year.”
McGregor’s professional career began with 11 consecutive victories and the EBU European Bantamweight title along the way.
His next professional fight, with Diego Alberto Ruiz, ended in a draw before he got back on the winning trail.
However, he suffered his first defeat in the summer of 2023 when he lost out to Erik Robles Ayala at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Sports Centre.
McGregor would return with back-to-back victories and secured a place on the undercard of Tyson Fury versus Oleksandr Usyk, when he defeated Isaac Lowe for the WBC International Featherweight title.
Now, he is determined to return from his second professional defeat and fight his way back into world title contention.
An opponent is yet to be announced for the Glasgow bout and McGregor told Courier Sport: “The thing is because I turned professional so long ago and achieved so much early on people think ‘when is it going to happen?’ ‘How has he not done it?’.
“There have been so many obstacles along the way but I just turned 29.
“There are guys I know, my old team-mate Leigh Wood, he did not have his breakout fight until he was 32 and won the British title.
“After that he just went on and on and became world champion.
“I was British, Commonwealth and European champion at 22.
“Maybe I achieved too much but I am still only 29 and all that experience is there.
“It is just about regrouping and doing the right things.
“At the same time, I am not stupid and the reality is time is ticking.
“I need to make sure these next couple of years count – I am confident that they will.”
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