Barrow boxer Liam Conroy will be making a swift return to the ring tonight when he faces Elvis Dube at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, as he looks to make up for lost time.

Less than two months have passed since the 26-year-old fought former Olympian Joshua Buatsi for the British light-heavyweight title at the Copperbox Arena, where he was defeated in three rounds.

The title fight was the first time Conroy had competed in just under a year, after a groin injury forced the end to his reign as English champion before a problem with his hand delayed his comeback last autumn.

He’ll be up against a familiar opponent, as Conroy previously faced 40-year-old Dube, who hails from Derby, in February 2015 when he picked up a points victory at Preston’s Evoque Nightclub.

Conroy said: “I just wanted to get back out there, get back to winning and get back to boxing because I just don’t want to waste any time.

“I just want to be busy and make up for lost time, really.

“Being in there in my last fight, I proper enjoyed it, obviously until I got stopped, but I just loved the atmosphere and everything, so I just wanted to it again really quick.”

Given Dube’s record of eight wins, 73 losses and two draws, Conroy will be odds-on to get back to winning ways in Brentwood for what is scheduled to be a six-round contest.

Conroy believes he’s going into this fight feeling sharper than he did when he fought Buatsi, with the experience of fighting at British level now driving him on to make a return to that stage at some point.

He said: “Especially after the 12 months I had before, with injuries and stuff, I was finding it hard to stay motivated, but I managed to when I was feeling a bit gutted.

“I then had that fight, which was obviously one of the biggest ones of my career and it’s just proper motivated me to get back to that stage now. I’ve come out of it a lot more positive.”

Conroy, who has concedes he was probably just up against a better boxer when he was floored by Buatsi in London, but believes it will still prove to be a positive experience in the long term.

“It’s prepared me more for the future and I’m a better fighter because of that, so if I was to box him again it would be a different fight because I’d be a better boxer for that experience,” Conroy said.

Conroy, who has won 14 of his 21 fights, is in the midcard of an event that will be headlined by local boy Danny Dignum, who’ll be facing former wold title contender Rafal Jackiewicz of Poland in a middleweight contest.

Norfolk’s Liam Walsh, who has just joined Conroy in MTK’s stable, will also be back in action after his defeat for the IBF super featherweight title against American Gervonta Davis a year ago.

The 32-year-old from Cromer, who had won his previous 21 bouts, will be up against Spanish fighter Reynaldo Cajina.