Highland Boxing Academy professional Ben Bartlett says Scottish title triumph is a ‘dream come true’ after bringing second national championship home to Dingwall
Ben Bartlett says adding a second Scottish title to his collection is a dream come true.
The 25-year-old had his hand raised at the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness on Friday night after a knockout victory against Rico Marinovic to win the vacant super-welterweight championship.
After months of build-up with an original date for the bout in November falling through, the Dingwall native made relatively short work of the “Punjabi Prince”.
Having knocked Marinovic down in each of the first two rounds, Bartlett landed a big body blow in the third that his opponent could not recover from, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
Claiming his second national title, with the welterweight crown already in his possession, made the long wait and months of training absolutely worth it though.
Bartlett said: “It was a great night. I can’t even put into words how much it flew by – it felt like it was over in a flash.
“I’m a double Scottish champion, and that still doesn’t really make sense in my head. I didn’t have much of an amateur background, so for me to collect two Scottish titles is a dream come true.
“I couldn’t have done it in a better fashion. The whole place was on their feet, which was amazing. I can’t put into words how deafening the place was at one point.
“Credit to Rico, because coming into my back garden must have been daunting but he was still looking to win. Like I’ve been saying for months though, he just wasn’t on my level, and that showed.
“I visualised that moment for so long. I trained so hard and put in all the hard work, and all the miles on the road, and winning made it all so worth it.”
Knowing how much work goes into getting to this level, Bartlett did have sympathy for Marinovic – and the two shared a lengthy conversation after the bout – but at the end of the day the “Bad Boy” was happy to get the job done.
What made the moment all the more special was the fact that it took place in the Highland capital, where Bartlett trains with Highland Boxing Academy.
Naturally, it was a highly partisan crowd in attendance, and Bartlett says he has been overwhelmed with congratulations since the final bell rang.
“It’s an amazing feeling – I’ve had hundreds of people messaging me or trying to phone me,” he said.
“I’m absolutely over the moon with it, and it makes me want to win even more.
“I can’t explain how much backing and support I have. Wherever I go, people are always coming up to me and congratulating me or speaking to me.
“I just find it amazing that so many people are interested in what I’m doing in my career, or my life. It’s an amazing community that I’ve got backing me, and I’ve always had that since I turned professional.
“Lots of people have travelled to watch me fight, so I felt like I owed it to them to produce back on my home turf. Hopefully everyone is happy with how it went and are looking forward to the next one.”
Bartlett will now have the chance to revel in his hard-earned success for a wee while before returning to training.
He will sit down with HBA head coach Liam Foy and promoters Northern Sporting Club to decide on next steps, but having put in such a strong performance on Friday night it seems likely that Bartlett will remain at super-welterweight rather than dropping back down to his original weight division.
“I’ve actually had to vacate the welterweight title,” Bartlett added.
“I’m still undefeated, so I would class that as being a two-weight champion.
“It’s an amazing thing to achieve, especially being from the Highlands. It’s pretty unheard of up here, and I feel like that’s why I have such a good backing.
“I’m going from strength to strength, and I’ve produced the goods in every fight I’ve had over the last few years.
“I think Friday night’s performance sealed it that I will stay at super-welterweight. I felt really strong in there, and I dropped him three or four times.
“I felt so much confidence with the power that my punches had, and I knew they would do damage – especially with the lighter gloves on – so I think that has cemented me in this division.”