WHEN Garvey Kelly steps back between the ropes on Saturday night, the Swindon welterweight will be looking to banish his February demons.

The 26-year-old suffered the first loss of his fledgling professional career when he was stopped by Faheem Khan.

And while many would be looking to go back to the drawing board, Kelly still oozes confidence.

Knowing that most fighters do not go throughout their careers undefeated, the Paddy Fitzpatrick-trained boxer will be looking to secure his third win at the Lavey Sports Arena on the undercard of Eamonn O'Kane's IBF middleweight inter-continental title defence against Lewis Taylor when he faces Hungarian teenager Gabor Feher.

"I understand that I took a loss, no boxer wants to take a loss, but it is part of the game," Kelly said. "How many fighters can you think of that are undefeated, I feel like that I have gained a lot of experience from the loss.

"I think that a lot of it (the defeat) was down to mentality, (I need to) be willing to exchange a bit more.

"Going into the last round, my coach was telling me to be sharp, be smart - I wasn’t sharp or smart, if anything I was probably fighting with a bit too much pride and ended up walking on to another shot."

While Kelly returned the gym in Ferndale Road on the Monday after his defeat, Fitzpatrick would not allow him to train for another week.

So when he did manage to get back into the ring to prepare himself for his return in a six-rounder, he could wait to get going.

"I was champing at the bit to get into sparring," Kelly said. "I have never been over in boxing in my life, not in the gym, not in a fight, not in amateur fights.

"I have not touched the ground ever, so to get knocked down the first time was a massive shock to the system, and then to get stopped was an even bigger shock."

And while some fighters would look to take a step back on their comeback from defeat, Kelly is not.

"I've had a great camp, I have been super sharp in sparring, I didn't need to change too much.

"There are small things I needed to change technique-wise, but I've got a great team with great people around me - I'm lucky.

"I'm back in with a six rounder, I'm not sure about the opponent, but I’m not bothered, I'm going out there to do my thing."