Eighteen months on from his last competitive fight,  Chester’s Chris Goodwin says he is ‘itching’ to get back into  the ring for a title tilt in April.

Great Barrow boxer Goodwin, 25, had seen his burgeoning lightweight career take a back seat after his sister Susan suffered serious injuries following a car accident in November 2012.

The accident forced Goodwin to pull out of his title fight with Irishman Oisin Fagan for the vacant World Boxing Federation lightweight belt in Cork in December of that year, with  a further scheduled fight with 40-year-old veteran Fagan cancelled again due to Goodwin failing to make the weight.

With his sister now recovered, Goodwin is set to face Fagan in front of a home crowd at the Northgate Arena on Saturday, April 12.

“It’s been a really tough time for me out of the ring with everything that had been going on with my sister, but things  now are right in the world again and I’m itching to get back in  that ring,” said Goodwin, who defeated Hungarian Istvan Kiss in his last bout to claim the World Boxing Foundation  lightweight title in Castlebar, Ireland, back in August 2012.

“I’m fighting fit, training really hard and feeling sharp. I just  want to get the gloves back and finally get into the ring with Fagan.

“As a boxer, it’s not just the physical element that you’ve got to get right, you’ve got to be mentally prepared for a fight  too.

“I was nowhere near being in the right frame of mind to take  the fight when my sister was in hospital, but now’s the time to  get my career back on track and make up for lost time. I’m raring to go.”

Goodwin’s father Steve, who also trains his son out of the Chester Boxers gym in Lightfoot Street, was excited about what the future had in store for his son and for boxing in the  city.

He said: “As a family we’ve been through a lot but Chris is  now able to concentrate on his boxing.

“He’s been training seven days a week, five hours a day and  is great shape and looking good.

“If he can get the victory against Fagan then we can look further on down the line. What we’d like to do is bring a world  title fight to Chester. That would be huge for the city.

“The last time Chris fought in Chester was against Carl Johannesen in the British lightweight title eliminator.

“He was robbed on that occasion so it would be great for him to get a win in front of home fans this time around.”

Goodwin will step into the ring at York Hall, Bethnal Green,  on March 1, for a warm-up fight for his Fagan bout against  an, as yet, unnamed opponent.