To begin with, I’m sorry that I haven’t updated this blog for the past few weeks – since I’ve been back in England after my fight with Sergio Martinez, things have been busy. I certainly haven’t been hiding because I was beaten.

I admit I was gutted at the way I lost though. Everything seemed to be going well for me but Sergio caught me with one of the best shots I’ve ever been hit with in my career and there was nothing I could do about it.

Although it still hasn’t quite sunk in that I lost and I’m still kicking myself about it, the thing that hurt me most was the feeling that I’d let everybody down, especially those who took the time and trouble to follow me all the way to America to watch the fight. The thing is though, since I’ve been back home, the support I’ve had from my family and friends has been brilliant, as have been the kind words from everyone I know in the boxing game.

The best thing about getting back from America was seeing my daughter Scarlet Rose. Although I spoke to her everyday when I was away, I didn’t realise how much I’d missed her until I saw her again. Even though I’d only been away for a few weeks, it was amazing to see how much my daughter had grown in such a short time. It’s her first birthday in a few weeks and its mind-blowing how quick the time seems to have passed since she was born.

Over the last 12 or so months, there have been a lot of changes in my life what with the birth of Scarlet Rose, switching promoters and all that and I think that between now and the New Year, I’ll take stock of exactly where I am in my life and try to mark out a clear path for myself for the next 12 months.

When I arrived home from America, the plan was to take Gemma and Scarlet Rose to Dubai for a week but the baby got an ear infection and we couldn’t travel. We had to postpone the trip for a couple of weeks but we did eventually got away and we got back home last Saturday after a top seven days in the sun. Now, after a lovely break, I’m going to get back into my training regime and I’m putting it in my mind to be fit to fight sometime next March.

Although I’ll be concentrating on getting into condition, I’ll still be out and about doing a few things. Its been good getting down to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea and it was nice to thank squad players Ryan Bertrand and Carl Magnay personally for the message they recorded for me before the Martinez fight.

I’ve got to admit that when Arsenal beat Chelsea, I got it big style from my brother Lee and his son George. I’d taken George to Stamford Bridge a couple of years ago and after the game – which Chelsea won – when we went for a meal with all my Chelsea mates, the poor kid was slaughtered by them! Being a Chelsea supporter, I was almost crying laughing at him getting wound up but he learned the lesson and proper gave it back when they stuck 5 past us the other week!

Still, I’m sure the boys will turn this around and the win at Blackburn was good. I’m pleased for Frank Lampard who not only captained England in a good win against Spain and scored the only goal but has now scored three on the bounce with his head!

I’ve met Frank a few times and he’s a proper nice guy and, like the rest of the Chelsea supporters, I’m pleased that he’s proving all the critics who were writing him off at the start of the season wrong!

That’s it for now but the next time I’m back, I’ll be inviting a guest reviewer to give a write-up on my brother Lee’s cooking…

Keep well and see ya soon!