Playing It Cool: Luke Campbell Passes His Toughest Test with Flying Colours

At the end of 2015, Luke Campbell's seemingly smooth progress in the paid ranks hit an unexpected rough patch. Having eased to a dozen victories as a pro, the lightweight lost contest No. 13.

A points defeat to Yvan Mendy last December wasn't part of his grand plan.

The split-decision verdict was generous; Campbell was comfortably second best against the Frenchman, who dropped his more illustrious opponent in Round 5 and was the tighter, more accurate of the two throughout.

Having cleared all previous hurdles comfortably, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist was suddenly tripped up by an opponent picked to give him rounds, not fits.

After one bad result, the question was being asked: Was Campbell more suited to the amateur game?

After responding with three successive wins in 2016, he has provided an emphatic answer. Under the guidance of respected trainer Jorge Rubio, the bandwagon is back on course—and seats on the vehicle are filling up at a rapid rate, too.

The Englishman did exactly what Chumbawamba suggested in their 1997 song "Tubthumping." He got knocked down, so he got up again. It seems you're never going to keep him down.

There were mitigating personal circumstances that could explain the Mendy result, but Campbell has never used them as an excuse. Instead, he's become even more dedicated to his career, taking himself away from his young family in Hull to go through tough training camps at Rubio's Miami base.

His improved performances suggest the sacrifices are worthwhile.

In beating Gary Sykes, Argenis Mendez and now Derry Mathews in the last 10 months, Campbell has shown a little bit of everything required to go all the way to the top.

Against Sykes, who has since hung up his gloves, the 5'9" southpaw needed a fraction under six minutes to claim the vacant Commonwealth title. It appeared a routine win, yet he demolished an experienced domestic opponent, whose record includes a victory over former lightweight world champion Anthony Crolla.

The Mendez fight that followed was a complete contrast. Against a former super featherweight world champion, Cool Hand Luke quickly regained his composure after another trip to the canvas. The flash knockdown in Round 2 aside, he controlled the contest at range to triumph on points.

Mendez was admittedly hampered by a broken jaw, but Campbell won going away down the stretch.

Mathews, though, was seen as his acid test. Dirty Derry's plan was clear: drag his rival into deep waters to see if he could stay afloat. While he could not hope to win a boxing match, he could prevail in a battle.

Campbell's counter to the tactic was to settle matters before the bout at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England, had even reached the halfway stage.

If a knockdown of Mathews in Round 3 looked a little dubious, with the pair seemingly tangling feet as much as anything, there was no question surrounding the body shots that dropped the local man twice in the fourth.

A pair of left hooks to the body finished off Mathews, not just for the night, but possibly for good as a pro. Somehow, he managed to get up from the first one that landed flush in his midriff. The second soon after, however, left him sucking in air long after the fight had been waved off.

Knockout Kings captured footage of a finishing shot that would have made a Mortal Kombat character proud:

So, in less than a year, Campbell has gone from serious contender to possible pretender and back again.

His target, however, has remained the same throughout the process: to win a world title.

"It was a great feeling of elation and relief and joy and everything when the final bell went; you don't get paid for overtime, so I was glad to get it done quickly," he told James Smailes of the Hull Daily Mail after stopping Mathews.

"I've got a lot of respect for Derry, and he's a tough opponent and a great guy too. It was a great night for me, and now we will look at taking the next step."

That next step is in the hands of his promoter, Eddie Hearn.

Campbell holds the WBC's Silver title and, according to the WBC's official website, is ranked No. 5 by the governing body. The problem is that the situation with the WBC belt is complicated.

Dejan Zlaticanin is the current holder, but former champion Jorge Linares—who had to surrender the strap when unable to defend it due to injury—is waiting for a chance to get it back.

Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

That opportunity won't be anytime soon though. Linares suffered a hand injury during his points victory over Crolla last month, per Sky Sports.

Campbell will remain active while he waits to see what might unfold with the WBC title. Hearn told Frank Smith of the Mirror: "I'd like to go back to Hull in February. We've not been to Hull for a year and four months since beating Tommy Coyle, and we don't want to lose our support there."

In the same interview with Smith, Hearn also brings up WBO champion Terry Flanagan's name. Rather than wait for an opportunity with the WBC, Campbell could head down a different path entirely.

Although Turbo Terry is promoted by Frank Warren, he was once willing to work alongside Hearn to organise a potential unification clash between his man and Crolla, according to Boxing News.

The all-Manchester showdown between Flanagan and Crolla has yet to happen, but the former's desire to cash in on his current status should make Campbell an attractive alternative for 2017.

European champion Edis Tatli is another name Campbell might consider coming up against, while the Lonsdale belt, currently held by Scott Cardle, also holds some appeal. If he ever wants to be British champion, now is the time to do it.

Mendy's name was mentioned by some, including Adam Canavan on Twitter, as a potential future foe:

But does going over old ground seem necessary? Pride comes before a fall, and perhaps Campbell should just learn the lessons from the loss to Mendy and make sure he doesn't make the same mistakes again. A rematch only makes sense if there is a big enough carrot dangled as a reward.

Whatever he chooses to do next, the outlook for the 29-year-old is much brighter than it was at the start of the year.

The solitary defeat on his CV looks more and more like a spot of turbulence on the journey rather than a reason to panic and suddenly reach for the switch marked "EJECT."

Although Campbell's talent was obvious to see during his golden run at the Olympics, Mathews wasn't alone in wondering if the former amateur star was having issues adapting to the pro game prior to their meeting.

However, by winning in such an emphatic manner, Campbell silenced Mathews and any other doubters. He didn't just manoeuvre his way beyond a gatekeeper in the division, as many expected him to do, he barged his way past.

By winning for the 12th time by knockout in 16 fights, Campbell delivered a statement of intent.

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