ROSS Cooksey is grateful for the support the Jimmy Egan’s Boxing Academy team have given him after opting to leave the Manchester trainers for somewhere closer to home.

The Barrow featherweight turned professional under the guidance of trainer Steve Egan and has enjoyed a successful first two years in the paid ranks, going unbeaten in his first six contests.

But with his fiancee giving birth to their first child recently, Cooksey was keen to base himself closer to this area to allow him to spend more time with his young family and continue his boxing career without having to stay in Manchester every weekend.

He has now signed a promotional contract with MTK Global and will train alongside fellow Barrovians Mike McGoldrick and Liam Conroy at Johnney Roye’s gym in Preston, but was quick to thank the Egans for being understanding about his circumstances.

“They’ve done a lot for me and it was a nice way to end it,” said Cooksey. “I just rang them up and opened up with how I was feeling about it all.

“With having a new baby and everything, I want to spend as much time with him as possible but train as well if I can. I can get more training in at Preston because I can go throughout the week, but I could also be at home at the weekend.

“It sort of made sense that was the option I wanted to take and although they didn’t really want me to go, they said ‘if you think that’s best for you then go ahead’.

“I was quite happy with the way it went because things like that can sometimes go a different way, but they were great. I’ve spoken to them since and everything’s fine. They’ve done a lot for me and I’m glad everything has ended on good terms with them.”

Cooksey is currently on paternity leave, but is aiming to return to training within the next couple of weeks and will be travelling down to Preston with Conroy, who is preparing for a British title fight next month, and McGoldrick.

It will almost be like returning to their amateur days boxing out of Barrow ABC when they start training together again.

For his part, Cooksey cannot wait to start working alongside the light-heavyweight pair again and is optimistic it will not be long before his next bout.

“I’m starting training in the next couple of weeks with them and once I’ve done maybe a month or so, he’ll start looking at fight dates for me,” said Cooksey.

“When I get going it will be like the old days back at Brook Street. I only did a couple of years with Mike McGoldrick, but with Liam we trained from the ages of around 14 to 22.

“It will be nice to be back training with him - and Mike as well.”