LONDON, England —
Cameron Vuong believes a settled environment under new trainer Ben Davison will help him produce a career-best display in his much-anticipated Gavin Gwynne rematch next month.
The 23-year-old lightweight (9-0, 4 KOs)
will run it back against a wily Welshman adamant he won their first meeting and 364 days later, they return to Birmingham once more.
Vuong enters next month's rematch armed with a new team in his corner,
having joined Essex-based Ben Davison after an 18-month stint alongside Jamie Moore at his Manchester gym.
Although the Blyth youngster has been praised for being kept busy and matched tough during the early stages of his career, there's an eagerness to see more from him at a time where Britain's pool of lightweights isn't very deep.
Sam Noakes is a month away from his maiden
WBO world title shot against fellow unbeaten contender Abdullah Mason on The Ring IV card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but besides him, there's little to write home about.
Former IBF junior lightweight champion
Joe Cordina (18-1, 9 KOs) returns against Gabriel Flores Jr on the Diego Pacheco-Kevin Lele Sadjo undercard on December 13 in his second showing back at 135-pounds, having campaigned a weight below for the last five years.
Giorgio Visioli, also a 9-0 prospect like Vuong, is being matched steadily after officially committing to lightweight this year, but if Louis O'Doherty's recent British title win over Regan Glackin was anything to go by earlier this month, there's much to be desired.
It's perhaps why Vuong felt it was important to make big changes now, rather than in two years' time, having taken his fair share of criticism for being less defensively responsible and guilty of going through the motions at times.
"I've settled in nicely, am really enjoying it with the lads - it's unbelievable in there - I'm learning everyday, feel I've made the right move and just getting ready for this rematch," Vuong told
The Ring.
Refusing to look past a more determined Gwynne, who felt hard done by and has since gone back to working full-time on the building site after losing sponsors, Vuong believes that experience helped him improve.
"I've come on leaps and bounds, that's the difference between last year and now," he added. "I'm ready for it this time around and know exactly what I'm getting myself into, so focused on producing a better performance."
"I showed I've got dog in me, can bite down on my gumshield when it gets tough and I need to. That's about all I liked about the fight, I believe I won - it was unanimous - but can understand if people's opinions are different. It's time to put on a masterclass and make sure there's no dispute now."
"I feel there's so much I've learned already, you've got to come to the gym first-hand and understand it. It's just another level in there, Ben and Lee [Wylie, his assistant coach] are on it, they work as hard as us fighters, so dedicated putting together game plans, their attention to detail is a big thing, I'm very happy," he added.
During the press conference, Gwynne acknowledged Vuong did what very few prospects were willing to by agreeing to fight him first time around but promised a 'very painful' night if he engages in gung-ho tactics.
"Obviously he's teamed up with Davison, Ben has had me sparring his boys and knows I'm no pushover," Gwynne said. "They'll try outboxing me on the back foot, box-and-move, if he stands there and trades with me, it'll be a very painful night for him.
"Being a championship fighter against elite-level opposition is totally different to facing average journeymen, Jeff Ofori is average, my style is very different to Jordan Flynn. I'm a different kettle of fish. I'm never going to win a world title but I give everything to this sport. For someone to come and beat me, they have to be at a decent level, win world titles like Cordina ... James Tennyson, Mark Chamberlain, they're all good fighters. Vuong isn't there, not at the moment."