JORVIK Warrior Jamie Warters is back and has a burning desire to avenge his defeat against Tony Booth.

The York cruiserweight went down to Booth on points and was left with three stitches to his left eye after ending his two-year absence from the ring back in November.

But instead of denting the confidence of the 29-year-old, Warters, who is trained by Hull-based Steve Pollard, is determined to get back through the ropes and set the record straight.

A provisional rematch at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull in October has already been pencilled in, but first Warters will have a run-in of four or five bouts, and with his eye now healed he will step up his training from Monday.

"The eye is a lot better now, it has had five to six weeks to heal up," Warters told the Evening Press. "It should now be fine and I'm hoping to be back fighting in February.

"I've been running and keeping fit throughout December, but I start training back with Steve on Monday and I'm looking forward to it more than ever.

"Steve's got one or two ideas about who I'm going to fight next, but I'm going to leave that to him. I just want to get back in there.

"I've love to fight Tony Booth again. I'd box him no problem and Steve has got that in mind for October, but the plan is to have four or five fights before that. Steve has told me that he is going to keep me busy in the ring.

"I was upset last time out losing to Booth, but to be honest that has made me even more determined.

"I don't want to go out on a note like that. I know people think I've made excuses, but I know in my heart why I lost, and I'm now more focused on getting back."

Warters, whose return to action could either be in Hull or possibly York, will be back sparring with fellow cruiserweight and stable-mate Earl 'The Real Thing' Ling in preparation for his February fight.

But despite his next fight being at the 190lbs level, Warters has not ruled out a return to the light-heavyweight class.

"Although I'm in the cruiserweight division at the moment, I'm really going to make a conscious effort to get back to light-heavy," he said.

Updated: 11:48 Saturday, January 04, 2003