Huddersfield star Tyrone Nurse is confident he can put his Leeds record straight and claim the vacant British Light-welterweight title on Saturday.
Fighting at the same First Direct Arena venue where he was on the receiving end of a loss to Commonwealth kingpin, Dave Ryan, in November, Nurse takes on unbeaten Welshman Chris Jenkins for the big prize.
Scotsman Willie Limond pulled out of the contest against Jenkins due to an injury and now Nurse replaces him in front of the Sky Sports cameras in the Matchroom show.
“I will try to perform the way I know I can,” explained 25-year-old Nurse, who is trained by Chris Aston.
“Winning is first and foremost for me, as I am not a good loser. It’s great to be on another Matchroom show, they’re easy to work with and a great bunch of people in general.
“It is always a buzz to be on Sky, too. I just need to make sure that I perform, so people see what I’m capable of.”
Nurse bounced back swiftly from the narrow Commonwealth title defeat to Ryan by putting an end to the challenge of Radoslav Metiv inside four rounds in November.
Jenkins’ last bout also ended in similar fashion against Jacek Wylezol a month earlier – his 16th win from 16 bouts.
Nurse – who has only two defeats against 30 wins on his record – had needed to make only minor adjustments to his training schedule for the contest.
He said: “The only difference was losing the extra bit of weight for a slightly longer bout than I was expecting before last week, and working out the style of boxing for the opponent.
“On the whole nothing has changed. If it had even been a journeyman and not Jenkins I would train with the same intensity and dedication.
“The Ryan loss has no bearing on me going into this fight.
“If anything the loss could play to my advantage as opponents may think that’s the Tyrone they will be facing, but I know differently.
“I’ve got my head screwed on and my mind on the job, and I know what the job at hand requires.”
Going by the words of promoter Eddie Hearn, Nurse’s fight could turn out to be the show-stealer on the night.
The ‘We are Leeds’ show includes Josh Warrington’s clash with Dennis Tubieron for the vacant WBC International featherweight title, Martin J Ward and Maxi Hughes clashing in a British lightweight title eliminator, and super-middleweight Rocky Fielding is also on the bill.
