Sean McComb just wants another chance.

The 32 year-old from Belfast has been pushed into the background since dropping an extremely contentious split decision to current WBO Interim junior welterweight champion, Arnold Barboza Jr, at the Barclay’s Centre in Brooklyn last April.

The man known as ‘The Public Nuisance’ has been out of action and extremely quiet over the past twelve months but that isn’t by design.

“Put is this way, we’ve asked most of the 140lbers in the UK. They've all said no. Dalton Smith, Adam Azim has said no two or three times,” McComb, 18-2 (5 KOs), told The Ring.

“We've obviously asked for a rematch with Barboza Jr. He said no. I spoke to Eddie Hearn at the Lewis Crocker - Paddy Donovan fight. I said, ‘Make me and [Jack] Catterall,’ he’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’

“Just give me a fight. I’ll fight anyone.

“I'm still training. I'm still keeping myself fit. I'm just waiting on a phone call, but at the minute, it just seems to be a bit more complicated than it usually is.

“I lost my ranking when I lost to Barboza Jr and I just feel like there's been no justice served because the WBO could have at least kept me in the rankings so I could get a fight but now, with no rankings, no belts, nothing really to go on, it's harder to get a fight.

“I thought - with a bit of luck - I was getting on the [Chris] Eubank undercard with Conor Benn. I signed a contract to fight Pierce O'Leary and it fell through the next day.

“It's just a bit of a frustrating time.”

Frustrating is an understatement. McComb is being punished when the only thing he is guilty of is producing the best showing of his career when it mattered the most.

Handed a prime spot on the undercard of the controversial fight between Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, he produced the performance of his life to calmly outbox the favoured Barboza Jr over ten rounds.

Most observers agreed with Benoit Roussel who scored the fight 98-92 in McComb’s favour. Unfortunately for McComb, the Canadian judge - and everybody else - was overruled by Tom Schreck and Don Trella who sided with Barboza Jr.

Later that evening, Garcia’s wild fight Haney would totally overshadow everything that had gone before it.

Rather than leaving New York with a famous victory and a high world ranking, McComb flew home quietly with a reputation as a man to be avoided.

The defeat was even harder to take as McComb literally felt his life changing as the bout was going on.

“The performance has just knocked me for six. If I'd have taken a beating in that fight, I probably would have been back already,” he said.

“I'm a banana skin now with nothing to offer other than a hard fight for people.

“I would beat Barboza Jr seven days a week. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind I'll beat that fella every day of the week. After the seventh or eighth round, I remember going back to the corner to [his trainer] Peter Taylor and being like, ‘I've won here. There's absolutely no way he can do anything here to beat me.’

“I wasn't even blowing out of my arse. I was just sitting down, chilled out, relaxed. I was like, ‘I've just changed my life here because I've almost won almost every one of these rounds easily.’”

Be it from sharing the ring with him in the gym or through word of mouth, McComb’s British rivals will have been extremely familiar with his abilities before he stepped into the ring with Barboza Jr.

Watching him transfer his skills onto the grandest stage will have just confirmed to them that there is little appeal in signing up for a tricky nights work unless there is a decent reward on the table.

Provided all goes to plan, Dalton Smith will box for the WBC super lightweight title before the end of the year whilst - as McComb said - Adam Azim’s team have precious little interest in a potential fight as they plot their man’s path towards a title belt.

An all-Irish clash with the heavy handed O’Leary would make sense on the right show but ‘Big Bang’ is due to box for the European title whilst British and Commonwealth champion, Jack Rafferty, is on the rise and has his own path in mind.

Last month, Jack Catterall also lost a split decision to Barboza Jr after a tense twelve round interim WBO super lightweight title fight.

Catterall has maintained a high position in the WBO rankings but, as a tricky, clever southpaw himself he won’t be at the top of anybody’s hit list. Anybody, that is, except McComb.

From a competitive point of view, a fight between the two men who have come the closest to beating Barboza Jr would make lots of sense.

Whether Catterall’s team believe it makes sense business-wise remains to be seen.

“Yeah, it does. It completely does and, as I say, it's a great fight. Me and Jack have sparred each other,” he said.

“I helped him out sparring when he was fighting Josh Taylor and he's a great lad but it's just boxing and I just believe that I've got the tools to beat anyone. I've got the awkwardness. I've got all the attributes that people don't like to face, and different styles make different fights.

“Obviously, a lot of people were telling me Jack was going to school Barboza and I says, ‘No, he's not.’ I actually backed Barboza to win, and people were like, seriously? Barboza's got good foot work. He doesn't fall off balance to be countered the way Jack counters people.

“So, I can understand boxing. I understand styles. Now, Teofimo [Lopez] may go and beat Barboza, but I believe Jack Catterall will beat Teofimo so that's the way promoters need to look at this boxing game.

“We're all capable of beating each other and I think that everyone should be given the opportunity to fight each other but the best have to accept it.”

McComb knows that he will have to wait for an opportunity and that, when it does arrive, he will once again be the underdog.

That is of no concern to him. All he wants is a meaningful assignment to get his teeth into. When the call comes, he will be ready.

“The 140lb division is stacked. There’s great fights and the problem is people think when they lose, that's it, their career's over, but it's not. It's far from it. You need to have a bit of faith in your ability. Don't say no to fights,” he said.

“Just take the fight. Learn how to beat the guy and do it. There's no one out there in this world I wouldn't fight.

“I need to use my boxing IQ to figure out a way to beat these guys and that's what we all need to do. That's the name of the sport. Beat the guy in front of you.

“Learn how to do it. You've got a 10-week camp. Within those 10 weeks, you've got to learn how to beat this guy and do whatever it takes.”