Walsall’s Martin Gethin has vowed to go into the lion’s den and slay Stefy Bull to get his hands on his old English lightweight title next Friday night.

The former champion is to fight for the vacant belt at the Doncaster Dome on December 4 and again will not be able to call on home advantage, while Bull lives just up the road from the Dome in Conisbrough.

But the Black Country punch machine is used to fighting on the road, and warns that a hostile crowd will count for nothing when the bell rings.

He said: “It’s a tough fight and, once again, I am the away fighter. But I have done that so many times it doesn’t even bother me anymore.

“Stefy is a good boxer, but hopefully if I can show a bit of my strength it won’t go the distance.

“I will work with my jab, get some good combinations going and he won’t be able to handle it. But if I go gung ho I will be exhausted after two rounds. Better to play the long game.”

Gethin plans to use the fight as a springboard back into contention for John Murray’s British title, as a two-time holder of the next-in-line national title.

He added: “I want that English belt back, because that is my way of getting back in there for the British title.

“From the start of my career, that is all I have ever wanted.”

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