“It’s been a tough year,” said super-middleweight contender Felix Cash with one of the early understatements of 2022.

Cash had shone with an impressive win against Denzel Bentley in 2021 and big things were expected. But a break up with his partner and a tragic car crash that killed four cousins meant he did not box again.

He’s out this weekend, against 15-0-2 Russian Magomed Madiev on the Danny Jacobs-John Ryder bill at the Alexandra Palace and he’s keen to move towards world title contention while making up for lost time.

“Splitting up with her and not being able to see the kids for a while, there was a lot of things going on and my head wasn’t right for boxing,” Cash admitted. “You need to be 100 per cent for boxing and I wasn’t in the right headspace. I was still training… I was still coming to the gym but there was a lot going on in my head. Then I was meant to come back in November and that [the car crash] happened so it’s been a very difficult year, but it’s part of life. Life’s difficult in general. You’ve got to stay strong and push on.”

He pushes on this weekend and he’s ready to impress against, as he did so with the one-sided Bentley win.

“Honestly, I can’t wait now,” Cash, 14-0, continued. “It’s around the corner and I can’t wait to get in there and do some damage. He [Madiev]’s a very good fighter. He’s tough, strong and he’s got a very good ranking with the WBA, so he’s definitely no pushover. It’s going to be a tough fight.”

During Cash’s time away from the ring, his coach Tony Sims hosted some long question and answer session with followers on social media. Often, he was inundated with queries about Cash. Felix, trying to get his mindset right, was buoyed by seeing people take an interest in him.

“It was great, it’s great people want to see me,” Cash added. “I believe I am an exciting fighter, I’m not boring, so it was good for me to see that, it gave me a bit more encouragement. It made me excited to get in the ring as soon as possible. I had a few things going on that were holding me back a bit but I’m back now and I can’t wait for Saturday night.”

He hopes now to kick on from where he left off against Bentley. Many thought that would be his springboard to big things last year. He did, too.

“I did,” Cash said. “There was a lot of talk about what was next and everyone was talking about it but sometimes things don’t work out as planned. I should have really fought another two times last year but it is what it is. It’s not long now before I’m back in between those ropes and I’m ready to put a show on.”

And now, opening 2022, he wants to get by Madiev and have meaningful contests against big names and while he has a world ranking, he’s set his sights a little closer to home to start with.

“I want titles and I want as many titles as I can get,” Felix explained. “I want the biggest fights I can get and I want the biggest names I can get. As long as everything goes well on Saturday, and I believe it will, you’ve got Chris Eubank Jr there… I didn’t rate his performance against Liam Williams on Saturday and I believe I beat Chris Eubank, and I beat him looking good.”