Motherwell boxer Charlie Flynn knows that his last opponent wants a rematch, but he says that he can’t afford to take him on in case he headbutts him again.

Flynn accused Irvine fighter Ryan Collins of clumsiness after a clash of heads between the pair in their bout at the SSE Hydro in April left the Commonwealth Games gold medalist requiring 25 stitches to a cut above his eye, and the fight being stopped as a technical draw.

He is still unable to spar as a result, and he has subsequently suffered a significant loss of earnings as well as valuable exposure for his sponsors due to not being able to step into the ring.

And even though he is supremely confident that he would defeat Collins in any rematch, he doubts he will ever step into the ring with him again.

“It was a warm-up fight because I had been out for a long time,” Flynn said. “I was supposed to fight him, and then it would be a 10-rounder to get me back into it, get me going, get a title and get a big flurry of fights one after the other.

“But then, that happened. I’ve already missed two fights because of it, and I’d already been offered a fight three weeks after that.

“So, I’ve lost two purses and my sponsors haven’t been out. I’m waiting to see what will happen, but I’ll leave it to my manager and Eddie Hearn to sort it out.

“Fighting him isn’t a risk from the point of view that I’m frightened in case he beats me, because I know I’m a level above. It’s just a case of not wanting to get another head clash.

“Maybe I’d consider that later on. Maybe, maybe not. I know for a fact that I would beat him, it’s not even in question.

“We were in the amateurs together and there’s a reason why I was the British champion two years in a row and I left amateur boxing as the British champion.

“It was annoying at the time, I was really frustrated and it was depressing, but at the end of the day it’s just boxing. Maybe there will be a rematch later on, but I don’t know.

“I know my manager doesn’t want it because it is such a high-risk fight with the prospect of a head-clash or a headbutt or whatever you want to call it.

“I should already have had another two fights since that one, so look at the loss of earnings. My sponsors aren’t even getting promoted because I’m out, I’m injured with this cut.

“So, I know from a business sense what they mean when they say that it would stupid to take the fight on because it could easily happen again.

“He follows in with his head after he throws punches. That’s what he does, and in that fight, it happened three or four times at least.

“I’ve got loads of options and I’ve got loads of opportunities, so there’s no point in that fight really.

“But I’ll fight anybody, it’s up to my management, they’ll pick the opponent and whoever it is that’s fine.”

Flynn is desperate to get back into competitive boxing, even though he is enjoying the chance to work on some technical aspects during his spell out of the ring.

After this enforced hiatus, he wants to cram in as much fighting as he can before the end of the year to get himself back on track, after a wretched 18 months through injury.

“My manager and Eddie are sorting everything out, but I’ll be doing three Matchroom shows,” he said.

“I’m guessing that they will maybe be down in England, but I don’t know yet. We’re talking about it and they might be doing a show in Scotland, but definitely at least two of those will be in England and maybe all three.

“I’ve been out for a long time and in the past year I’ve only had one fight, and maybe only three or four in the last two years.

“That’s not been good, and I need to get in the ring and get that experience, so we’re going to have a few fights and just roll through them.

“After that, we’ll see what happens next.”