IT HAS been a long road to recovery but Bentham powerhouse Tomi Tatham hopes there might be some positive news on the horizon as he bids to end an injury nightmare.

The light heavyweight boxer suffered a broken right wrist ahead of his last bout in November with continued use exacerbating the problem and prolonging his time away from the ring.

After five successive victories, his last fight also represented his first professional defeat as the 25-year-old lost on points to Sheffield’s Lee Duncan at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Tatham hopes the pot currently protecting his wrist will be removed by the end of the month, from where he can begin his rehabilitation and slowly build towards a competitive return.

His sights are firmly set on fighting again in October, which cannot come soon enough for the man nicknamed ‘TNT’ who is straining at the leash to avenge defeat.

“The pot was meant to be off by now and hopefully it will be in the next few weeks as it’s doing my head in – I just want to get back to it,” he said.

“Sometimes I’ll be up at night and I’ll just watch boxing. I’ll watch Miguel Cotto or a bit of Mike Tyson but I’ll always end up flicking back to my last fight.

“I need to let it go but I won’t be able to until I can get back into the ring and do my thing.

“I’m still training a minimum of six times a week because I can’t sit still and if I don’t train I can’t sleep.

“I run a lot and did so much in the early stages my pot had to be replaced five or six times because of the amount of sweat.

“I’ve just been using my left arm on the bag and it’s massive whereas my right arm is like a noodle.”

Despite obvious frustrations with his injury lay-off, Tatham is eager to demonstrate both brains and brawn as he aims to return a more complete fighter.

And perhaps on reflection, he believes time away from the sport could act in his favour and reignite a fervent desire to progress in the boxing world.

“It’s been horrible watching my friends train and fight but it has taught me a lot also,” he added.

“Instead of watching fights and simply thinking I would batter him, I’m watching and thinking I’m going to take that away and I’ll copy this and that, picking up little pointers.

“I’ve started thinking more about boxing which has made me hungrier and I think the break from the sport will definitely benefit me.

“With my first few fights I was so hungry and wanted it so badly and was doing my morning runs and everything and got the knockouts. But I think I got too complacent.

“Perhaps if it was chucking it down with rain I may have skipped a morning run, essentially not giving it 100%.

“It’s been nearly a year so the time away has made me want it so much more and made me think about what I want.”