CHRIS Keane says that he has learned from his mistakes as he prepares to clash with Swindon’s Lawrence Bennett in a British cruiserweight title eliminator.

The 27-year-old suffered a crushing second-round defeat to Neil Dawson last spring as he looked to secure the vacant WBO international belt.

However, the Walsall man said that he should have withdrawn from that bout in his hometown.

“I don’t want to go into why I lost too much, but I wasn’t 100 per cent,” Keane told the Advertiser. “I should have withdrawn, but I carried on and lost.

“It was a mistake and I have to learn from it and I won’t be making the same one again.

“I’ve got back on the horse, come back got a couple of wins and now I’ve got this fight.”

Since the defeat last May, Keane has claimed two points victories over four rounds and in now back in the domestic level mix and, if he can beat Bad Boy on June 7 at the Oasis Leisure Centre in the chief support to Kelvin Young’s IBO super-middleweight inter-continental title, he could be next in line for a shot at British champion Jon-Lewis Dickinson.

However, the former Midlands Area champion insists that he is not looking past the Southern Area title holder.

“I can’t look past this fight,” the former senior elite super-heavyweight ABA champion said. “No fights are easy, I will do my best and hopefully that will get me the win.

“I don’t know too much about him except that he is big and a southpaw.”

Despite stopping five of his 12 opponents to date, including dropping former British champion Shane McPhilbin three times in the third round to claim the Midlands Area belt, Keane insists that he won’t go charging in to get an early night against the 31-year-old Swindonian.

“I don’t worry about my record - records are for DJs,” he said. “This is boxing and if you land that one shot cleanly then it could all be over.

“But you’ve got to give every fighter respect and that is what I’ll be doing.”

Keane says that he has been pleased with how his training is going for the June clash and he spent a little time working with Adam Booth, trainer of former world cruiserweight and heavyweight champion David Haye, and Gary Logan in London.

“That went alright,” he added. “I’m pretty happy with how my training has gone.”