SWINDON southpaw Jamie Cox says he is now in the right frame of mind after announcing he will be returning to the ring later this year.

Cox’s last bout saw him fall short against John Ryder at the O2 Arena in London in May of 2018, leaving him with a record of 25 wins and two defeats.

Since that bout, Cox had planned on dropping down from super-middleweight to middleweight as he looked to reignite his career.

However, after struggling with issues outside of the ring, the 33-year-old decided to take some time away from the sport.

“Going into the Ryder fight, there were some issues going on outside of the ring and I just didn’t perform very well,” said Cox. who reinstated his intention to fight at middleweight.

“Ryder beat me, no discredit to him because he is a very good fighter but there were a lot of things going on and it was the first time in my life that I went into the ring thinking about other things.

“Now I’m fully focused and I want the big fights again, I’ll be back in the ring in May as a super-middleweight but as we all know I’m a small super-middleweight, so the aim is to get down to 160 and fight at middleweight.”

The former world title challenger says he has linked up with Tony Borg and is enjoying the sport again as he looks to re-establish himself both domestically and internationally.

“Being back in training and back in camp is really good. I had a year and a half off and during that time I was in and out of the gym a little bit but now I’m fully committed,” he added.

“I’ve been training hard twice a day with Tony Borg at St Joe’s in Newport and I’m due back with Team Des Fitness in Birmingham too.

“Lee Selby trains with Tony too and there are a few British champions in the gym as well, so that really helps me push on.

“Working with Tony has been great because he concentrates on tactics and gets me to think about my boxing.”