Sam Eggington confident of shocking Conah Walker in mammoth all-Midlands clash

Sam Eggington vowed to do his talking in the ring as he aims to stun Conah Walker on Saturday night.

The Black Country boxers clash at a sold-out Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall in the biggest all-Midlands contest for decades, with Eggington confident of causing an upset and ruining Walker’s return to his home city.

At 32, Eggington is the older man by only two years but is markedly more experienced, with Saturday the 46th fight of a professional career which has seen him win honours at British, European and world level.

And though considered an outsider by the bookmakers, the Stourbridge star is determined to show he is a long way from finished.

“I love my job and the motivation is to keep a job you want to do, isn’t it?” he said. “That is what drives me now.

“I am not here for cliches, I am going to sit here and say I will do this and that.

“All those ifs and buts, they will all be answered. We will get all the answers on the night. But I am confident. I am here to win.”

Eggington was speaking during a press conference in Walsall on Thursday, when the mutual respect between the two fighters was obvious.

The fight - which sold out in the space of a week - was effectively organised during a brief series of text messages between the pair.

Yet it is Walker, wearing a Wolves shirt in the week he outlined his ambition to one day fight at Molineux, who enters with the most to lose.

The 30-year-old is currently on one of the best runs in British boxing and was close to securing a shot at the IBF welterweight title earlier this year.

In selecting Eggington as an opponent for his homecoming show, he has unquestionably taken something of a risk. The bout is also taking place at a catchweight closer to the super welterweight division in which Eggington, visibly the bigger man, has most recently campaigned.

But having consistently upset the applecart in recent times - knocking Olympic medallist Pat McCormack out of the ring in his last fight - Walker is understandably in confident mood.

“I don’t like to take the easy route,” he said. “There were easier fights but I wanted Sam. I was asking for him last year.

“Dangerous fighters are ones who have it all to lose. I am the same as Sam. This is my dream job. This is what I love to do.

“This is a big challenge. I am facing a high-risk level fighter but these are the type of fights which keep me going.

“This is my job to get past Sam and go on to the next of the big challenges.

“You have seen it in the past. I am Mr Find a Way. I just believe.”