Bryan Roberts chases Australian boxing title at Adrenalyn Fight Circuit

That's why he was never going to back down from his long-awaited shot at the MASA Australian super middleweight boxing title even after he contracted the virus during fight camp.

Roberts was feeling the effects of the virus long after he left isolation, but he has been waiting long enough for this title shot. Wind the clock back to June and this same bout was cancelled two days out due to the pandemic.

Now Roberts [4-3] and Dan Murray [3-2] will finally collide at Adrenalyn Fight Circuit's inaugural show at the Hellenic Club of Canberra on Saturday night.

"Camp has been a bit disrupted. I had personal stuff going on, I got COVID as well which actually affected me for about five weeks until I got my cardio back. I had surgery a couple of weeks ago on my finger," Roberts said.

MORE SPORT

"It was a little bit of a bumpy lead-up to the fight compared to the last couple of ones where I had perfect runs and the fights never happened. I'm still ready to go, it's business as normal. Get in, put the work in, get the job done."

Roberts has already claimed a MASA state title at cruiserweight and hopes a return to a lighter weight division can help to unlock his potential as he chases his first win in more than 12 months.

Fights have been few and far between during the pandemic with Roberts determined to make up for lost time after two years derailed by the pandemic.

The 33-year-old is now setting his sights on becoming a two-division national champion.

"This may be my last fight at super middleweight unless an opportunity comes up at a bigger and better belt. I'm probably going up the next division to light heavyweight and going for the Aussie title in that if I can," Roberts said.

"I'm not out of place at light heavyweight, I'm quite a big super middleweight and it takes a bit of effort to get down there, so that's why I'm able to compete in those heavier weight divisions. I've been a state champ as a cruiserweight, I might as well go down one division and go for the Aussie title.

"I have had to fight up in weight divisions because I haven't been able to get the fights I wanted in my actual weight division. I've had more fights at light heavyweight and cruiserweight.

"My last fight was at light heavyweight, I took it at short notice and the guy came in overweight, so it technically would have been a cruiserweight fight as well. My two fights before that were up at cruiserweight."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: