I’ll be back says former English boxing champion Kirk Goodings

The Sunderland boxer was stopped inside a minute in his lightweight defence against Scott Cardle in Manchester on Saturday night.

Goodings will now take a break but will be back in the gym next month getting ready for a ring return at the back end of this year.

The defending belt holder was floored by Cardle after just 18 seconds and when the unbeaten Lancashire boxer went straight back on the attack, referee Steve Gray stepper in to halt the contest.

It sends Cardle towards a British title challenge while Goodings will go “back to basics” but the great thing is he will be back.

“I’ve just got to get on with it, there’s no point dwelling on it,” he told the Echo.

“It was one of them things – I was caught cold. It happens.

“May be the stoppage was a bit premature, a few of his last shots actually missed.

“But I can’t argue and I have no complaints with the referee – he is the boss.

“I will have a couple of weeks off, may be a holiday and then I’ll get in the gym again.

“I’ll go back to basics and come back and build myself back up again.”

There is an old adage in sport about not becoming a bad boxer overnight.

Goodings had gone into the fight at the Phones4U Arena in the form of his life – a superb 10-round exhibition of his skills against Paul Truscott followed by an eighth-round stoppage of local rival Gary Fox in the maiden defence of his belt.

Unless you are a Floyd Mayweather, Joe Calzaghe or Rocky Marciano, all boxers lose at some point and some greats have suffered early KOs, like Lennox Lewis and Ricky Hatton.

The 25-year-old Wearsider is certainly not deterred.

“Definitely not,” he stated. “It wasn’t like he’d dominated me for five rounds then brutally knocked me out.

“If that had happened, may be I’d be questioning myself now, thinking ‘is this for me?’.

“But I was caught cold. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good shot that put me down, right on the button, but I got up and tried to get back into it.

“I lost and have no complaints, but I will be back.

“I’m ready for whatever is thrown my way, but I don’t want to be going back to four rounders and the like.

“I’d love to look towards British and Commonwealth titles fights, but we’ll see.”

Goodings had the last word for his supporters and the people of his home city and beyond.

“I’d like to thank the people who went to support me and all the well-wishers,” he said. “It was phenomenal all the support and backing I had.

“I’d like to thank everyone.”