Paul Hyland Jnr believes his British lightweight championship shoot-out with Lewis Ritson is as good as a world title eliminator.
The unbeaten Belfast boxer takes on the reigning champ at the Metro Radio Arena on Saturday night.
Hyland Jnr is aiming to stop Ritson winning the title outright after the undefeated Newcastle star picked up the belt stopping Robbie Barrett in seven rounds in Manchester last October before blasting away Joe Murray and Scotty Cardle in one and two rounds respectively in February and March.
Hyland knows stopping Ritson’s run would open doors to more major honours.
“The winner of this will push on towards a shot at the World title so it’s sort of like a World title eliminator in theory,” said the 27-year-old. “There’s a lot riding on this.
“You win this, it puts you in the mix. That’s what we all dream about, to fight for a World title and this firmly puts me in a good place for that.
“I know Ritson is a tough bloke, he’ll come at me.
“Whatever he brings, I’ll take it. I believe I have a better boxing ability him that will show on the night, it’ll be a complete war.
“Cardle landed with some big blows in the first round when they fought, so it shows he can be hit.
“Scotty also only had three weeks to train for the fight so it was all or nothing for him in the first few rounds. He knew he couldn’t go the distance.
“I will be a totally different proposition.”
Hyland (pictured above right) is aiming to seal a hat-trick of huge wins for manager Mark Dunlop after Ronnie Clark shocked Zelfa Barrett and James Tennyson stopped Martin J Ward in title fights in London.
The IBF European champion is dreaming of waking up on his 28th birthday on Sunday as the first Northern Irishman to hold the Lord Lonsdale belt at 135lbs since Charlie Nash in 1978.
“Mark is on a bit of a roll with Ronnie beating Zelfa and James stopping Martin so it’s down to me to make it a treble,” said Hyland Jnr.
His clash with Ritson is part of a huge night of action in Newcastle Josh Kelly challenges Kris George for the Commonwealth Welterweight title.
Gavin McDonnell defends his WBC International Super-Bantamweight title against Stuart Hall in a must-win clash for both men, Charlie Edwards and Anthony Nelson meet for the vacant WBA Continental Super-Flyweight title and Arfan Iqbal defends his English Cruiserweight belt against Simon Vallily.
Tickets priced £40, £60, £80 and £100 are on sale now from the Metro Arena at http://www.metroradioarena.co.uk, on 0844 493 6666 or in person from the Metro Radio Arena Box Office. Please note venue facility and booking fees will apply
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Lawrence Lustig/ Matchroom
