Cameron Vuong will have woken up on Sunday morning knowing that he had been in a fight. 

Vuong, 5-0 (3 KOs), might have turned on his phone and seen more messages of respect from real boxing people than social media notifications, clipped highlights and fire emojis, but the 10 rounds he shared with Jeff Ofori were undoubtedly the most valuable of the highly rated 21-year-old lightweight’s young career. 

Ofori was tough and determined enough to maintain his ambition during some tricky early rounds and good enough to make Vuong pay for some slack defensive work in the fight’s closing stages. Considering that the experienced 34-year-old was a late notice – and arguably tougher – assignment than his originally scheduled fight with his rival Jordan Flynn, Vuong can be pleased with his night’s work. 

“It was a good performance. I dropped a couple of rounds towards the end. I knew he was a tough man – not what we prepared for – but great fighters adjust and I feel that’s what I did,” he told DAZN.

“[The rounds were] really important. You don’t get those sort of lessons in the gym. Under the lights when someone’s putting the pressure on – someone as tough as him – I learned great lessons tonight and I feel that’ll put me in great stead going forward in my career. 

And what about Flynn? Rivalries are good for boxers. They generate invaluable interest and create storylines that keep fans invested in a fighter’s career but for a feud to really take hold, it usually needs to be evenly matched, involve real jeopardy for both fighters and maybe developed over time.

Vuong and Flynn may not have seen eye to eye but the amount of time and effort that was put into creating a rivalry between two talented novices could - and maybe should - have been better spent building each fighter separately and allowing a potential future fight to grow naturally. 

For the time being, Vuong insists that although the whole saga has taught him plenty about the sport, he has moved on. The two certainly do have a backstory and if Flynn can get fit, concentrate on his own career and catch Vuong up, a future fight may yet be worthy of such a big build up. 

“The kid’s got no class,” Vuong said. “He’s not getting a chance now. I’m on a different trajectory. I’d like to go overseas and get some experience abroad now. I couldn’t care less about Jordan Flynn. He’s a nobody who’s done nothing and will do nothing. That fight is in the past now for me.

“I’ve had a tough, tough camp. Obviously, me pulling out due to injury and then him. I’ve had a few personal things going on in my personal life but I feel I’ve matured a lot in the time I’ve been out of the ring. I’ve done so much learning inside and outside boxing. I can’t thank my team enough. I’m around great people, I’m in a great spot and I’m truly grateful to be on these shows and on these big cards.”