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Jazza Dickens has spent the past six weeks walking between the hotel and the gym in Dubai, deviating only to get his customary black Americano.
Dickens was only supposed to be heading to the Middle East to train alongside Liam Smith as the former WBO junior middleweight titleholder prepares for his Riyadh Season fight with Josh Kelly. But what was initially due to be a summer training camp quickly turned into a busman’s holiday, and Dickens will fight the Philippines’ Eduardo Mancito (21-15-2, 10 KOs) on Friday night.
It has been an eventful few weeks. Whilst he was on the other side of the world, Dickens found himself deep in negotiations over an all-Liverpool world title fight with WBA featherweight titleholder Nick Ball. Talks eventually broke down, but Dickens, ever the optimist, is pleased that his hard work isn’t going to waste.
“I came over here because I wasn’t going to have a coach for the six-week holiday and the kids were going to Wales,” Dickens (33-5, 13 KOs) told BoxingScene. “I decided to get some training in. I want to stay active just in case anything comes up. ‘Beefy’ was coming here to do his camp for the Josh Kelly fight, so I came along. I had my gumshield in my pocket, as fighters always do, and Joe [McNally, his coach] said to me, ‘You’ve got a fight in six weeks.’
“I just fought in Liverpool on the 29th June. Two weeks after the fight, I heard about the Nick Ball fight. I thought that was on, so I was training for it and then this came along. Either way, it was going to be around the same date.
“I wanted activity. Instead of sitting out and waiting for a big one last year, I should have stayed busy. Obviously, no fighter wants to go back down the ladder, but I should have done it earlier. I left myself no option but to get back up there really, but it’s not worked out too badly. I’ve got to know my new team.”
Dickens only began working with McNally earlier this year when he decided to head home after spending a couple of years preparing for his fights across the Irish Sea with Peter Taylor in Dublin.
McNally’s assistant, Declan O’Rourke, was in his corner for that six-round stoppage win over Jayro Duran in June, and Dickens has enjoyed being a part of their tight-knit team.
Dickens is 13 years into his career but remains open-minded and eager to learn. McNally cut short his own brief but undefeated run as a professional just a month before Dickens began his own, and he was well aware of the qualities that made the young Dickens such a highly rated talent. Dickens is now 33 years old and has evolved as a fighter, but McNally has been working on reinserting some of the “old” Jazza into his current style.
“I was working with them both anyway,” Dickens said. “They’re both in the gym. They’ve also got Jay Carney in now helping them out because they’re so busy. They’ve got a good stable of fighters. Some days I’ll be with Joe, some days I’ll be with Dec, and some days I’ll be with Jay. We’re all on the same page. It’s good.
“Joe is on the same page as me in that we both know what I’m good at. I knew Joe anyway, growing up in Liverpool. He knew me as a kid, and I was an aggressive counterpuncher. That’s what he wants me to go back to. There are some things that we’ve got rid of and some things that we’ve put back in. Also, I’ve learned a lot along the way. I’d be very silly to throw it all away.
“He has a good IQ about what he’s looking at. There have been times when we’ve been offered certain fights or certain opponents and when we’ve sat down and talked about how we think it’d go. It seems to be that – and I’m not saying I’m dead clever here – but we seem to be on the same page.”
Dickens is aiming to show his improvements against the well-traveled Mancito, who has enjoyed a roller coaster career but is currently riding a three-fight win streak and took former two-weight world titleholder Rey Vargas the distance back in 2015.
Dickens is focused on proving that he is back and still more than capable of troubling the world’s top junior lightweights.
“He’s tough,” Dickens said of Mancito. “He’s there to fight and he’s there to win. He’s had a good six week’s notice for this. He isn’t going to come and lie down. It’s going to be tough. He’s taking it very seriously, but so am I.
“I can say that ‘Jazza’s back,’ but I’m in the gym and people can’t see anything of me. I need to show that I’m back and not just say it. I want to perform well. I’m looking for another knockout and I want to show people that I haven’t gone anywhere.”
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79