KELVIN Young says that he will push for a rematch with Leon McKenzie after his first-round defeat in Saturday night’s English super-middleweight title final eliminator.

The Penhill pugilist felt that referee Terry O’Connor waved the fight off before he reached the 10 count after the former Premier League footballer had floored Young on 33 seconds of the first round on his television debut.

The former IBO inter-continental and Southern Area champion was caught by a heavy right early in the contest before a clubbing left sent Young to the canvas.

The 28-year-old was quickly back on his feet before returning to one knee to take the eight count but the contest was waved off after just 43 seconds.

“I was fine,” Young told the Adver. “He caught me with a good shot, but I was straight up on three.

“Then I thought that I should take the eight count and went down and took a knee. Then I got up on eight and the referee waved it off on nine.

“We have to have a rematch, I’m going to be pushing for a rematch. Fair play to Leon, he caught me with a good shot, but he can’t take anything from that win.”

Young, who suffered his fifth defeat in 24 contests on Saturday, felt that he was never given a chance to recover from the shot that sent him to the floor.

“Listen, when (Francis) Tchoffo had me on the floor (in June 2014) I was a lot more hurt than I was on Saturday,” the Swindon fighter said.

“But there I was given every chance to recover and I went on to defend my IBO title.

“Against Leon McKenzie, I knew that I wasn’t going to get any favours being in the away corner, but that was ridiculous.

“They never gave the chance to recover. We are going to lobby the board for a rematch.

“If that doesn’t come off I’m going to have to think about what I do next, but one thing is for sure I’m not thinking of retiring.”

The build-up for Saturday’s clash was thrown into disarray on Friday when Young’s manager Keith Mayo was taken ill on the Friday.

“That didn’t affect me on the Friday, but by the time Saturday had come around I was fully focused,” Young said.

“He is doing okay, and once he is better we are going to push for a rematch.”