GWENT middleweight Gary Lockett will switch from being "The Rocket" to "The Exorcist" when he returns to action at the Cardiff International Are-na on Saturday, June 28.

The hard-hitting former WBO inter-continental light-middleweight champion believes he must get rid of the ghosts of the past at the CIA - the venue where his real life nightmare took place last year - so that he can move on his career.

"That was the scene of the worst night of my life," said Lockett of his defeat by Russian Yuri Tsarenko, the man who ended his unbeaten run and took his title.

The Cwmbran puncher continued: "Just walking past the Arena always reminds me of what an awful night I had and it still brings a chill to the back of my neck.

"After the fight my face looked like something out of a horror film, but it was the damage that he caused to my career which was more hurtful.

"It was a painful experience and I never want to go through it again."

He changed trainers and is now under the guidance of Bryan Hughes in Manchester and also moved up to the middleweight division.

"Now it is time to exorcise the ghosts there and move forward in my career," he said. "I want to rectify the images that people still have of my performance that night and instead give them the stunning performance they should have seen,"

Lockett has already defeated one of the demons for last month he faced Tsarenko again. This time the result was different after he ground out a solid performance for a points decision.

At the CIA he features in an eight-round contest against Nottingham's Michael Monaghan, and he should win.

Monaghan is ranked only 40th among the British super-middleweights after a 21-fight career which has brought him 12 wins and eight losses compared with Lockett's record of 19 wins and one defeat.

The Lockett-Monaghan clash will be on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe's WBO super-middleweight title defence against Byron Mitchell.

"This is the relaunch of the Rocket and now I'm looking to firmly establish myself in the division.

"There are many good fighters out there but I don't want to make a mistake by looking too far ahead. I want to concentrate on getting rid of Monaghan first," finished Lockett.

The rest of the undercard features Wales' best young talent including Commonwealth Games Champion Jamie Arthur, who has his first fight in Wales as a professional, Gavin Rees, Tony Doherty, Scott Gammer and Nathan King.

Tickets are available from 'RED DRAGON', priced at £30, £50, £75 & £125, are available from the C.I.A Box Office on Tel: 02920 224 488 or the Sports Network Box Office on Tel: 01992 550 888.