Udofia wants to make a '˜statement' at York Hall

The 24-year-old is on the Goodwin Promotions bill as he steps into the ring for the first time since March looking to make it five straight victories in his pro career to date.

Although Blackwell has lost 68 of his 75 previous bouts, only one has been through knock out, as on the challenge in front of him, Udofia said: “He’s very durable, my opponents are getting better and better and I need more tests like this at this stage of my career.

“I don’t want knock-overs, people that will just fall over, I want big tests, people who are going to give me something back, people who are going to teach me what I’m doing.

“He’s fought very, very good level opponents, but Danny is just another guy to me, who I need to make a name off.

“I need to perform really well against him, as he’s an opportunity for me to see if I can make a statement off him, then I can really get better.

“I can’t let him beat me.”

Udofia will be co-headlining the Full Throttle bill, with his profile picture adorning the fight poster in full, something he had dreamed of achieving.

He continued: “It’s a prospect card, there’s a lot of good prospects that are going to be something, so it’s a very good card to see their development.

“For me to co-headline that, it’s me hitting my targets and I’m just really, really, really happy to know that they think of me like that and are regarding me that high.

“It’s a very good feeling and that was the goal, I always wanted it to happen and was working hard for that.

“But I just never thought it would happen so soon, and that’s more incentive now to keep pushing now.”

The bout is a six rounder and something different that Udofia has had to prepare for, with all his previous fights over the shorter four round distance.

He said: “I’ve never done six rounds before, but we prepare for everything.

“We’ve been training to fight eight rounds as we want to hit the ground running.

“That’s how the body works, you can’t just say you’re doing a six rounder now, you need to have the stamina in the tank already.

“You can’t just all of a sudden start to train for that, because you’re body’s not going to know.

“We’re ready for anything, and I’m just itching to get in the ring, it’s been the longest week of my life.”

The former Hockwell Ring ABC boxer has been in camp for around three months in the build-up to the fight, as on his preparation, he said: “I train hard anyway, but it seems every time a fight comes up, I seem to train harder, that’s just how it works.

“I know I’ve trained hard for this fight, harder than I’ve ever trained to be honest.

“I’m just winding down really now for the weekend, if anything just trying to manage weight now.

“It’s been a long camp, I’ve been in the gym for the last 12 weeks, a lot of people in my gym have been fighting, so I’ve been helping them out, sparring, getting them ready for their bouts.

“We haven’t trained for any certain styles I might face though, we train for everything, make sure I’m ready for whatever.

“My coach usually takes whatever I’m good at and makes it better, takes what I’m not good at and tries to make it better, and we work on that.

“The name of the game is to not get hit, primarily we’re working on defence and trying to stay safe, there’s no need to get hit for no reason.”

Meanwhile, if successful as planned, Udofia is targeting another two outings before the turn of the year, adding: “I don’t look too far into the future, but my management were saying I might be out again in September and December.

“That would be perfect for me really, but it’s just one fight at a time, and focus on what’s in front of me.”

>> Udofia’s sponsors include Corefit Pilates, D&I family butchers, Advanced Roofing Solutions, LJB Electrical Contractors, Cwood and Son ltd, Peptalk UK, All Time Removals, GB Staffing, JFB Sports and Vertigo.

See www.linusudofia.com for tickets.