BLACKBURN boxer Luke Blackledge joined Alex Matvienko’s gym a year ago, and the trainer says there has been one key difference: “He doesn’t parry punches with his face now.”

Blackledge takes on Liam Cameron for the Commonwealth super middleweight title at King George’s Hall in Blackburn on April 4 and has been hard at work at Matvienko’s Bolton gym as he steps up his preparations.

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World champion Carl Froch recently told the Lancashire Telegraph he had big hopes for former sparring partner Blackledge, but that the 24-year-old was sometimes ‘too tough for his own good’.

It is a sentiment that Matvienko agrees with and Blackledge, whose background is in semi-professional rather than amateur boxing, has been working on developing a more subtle approach rather than all-out attack.

Asked what has been improved, Matvienko said: “His looks!

“He doesn’t eat punches now, he doesn’t parry them with his face.

“It’s just teaching him the things you learn as an amateur - the ring craft, how to set traps.

“He’s as tough as old boots and that’s what’s got him so far.

“But when you start stepping up in levels you need to be a little bit better than just tough, you’ve got to be clever as well. You don’t just go into a gun fight and run in and start shooting or you’re going to get shot.

“Luke needed just a little bit more strategy.”

Blackledge has triumphed in 18 of his 22 professional fights, winning four in a row since linking up with Matvienko.

“Everyone forgets how young Luke is,” Matvienko said.

“Luke has got things you can’t teach. He has so much sheer aggression and he’s durable.

“What surprised me when he first came here was his boxing brain. I thought he was just a fighter, which he was, but when you speak to him he knows what he should be doing.

“His balance, strength and stability was quite poor too for a professional athlete, and his nutrition. All that has been improved quite a lot.

“I think Luke can go all the way but that’s down to him, he’s got to live the life of a professional athlete.”

Matvienko believes victory over Cameron could be hugely significant for Blackledge.

The trainer said: “It’s going to open doors with promoters like Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and Dennis Hobson.”

Fellow East Lancashire boxers AJ Faizy, Artif Ali, Adam Machaj, Morgan Jackson and Shakeeb Ali are also pencilled in to fight at King George’s Hall on April 4.