NICK Blackwell says he’s chomping at the bit to get back into the ring in front of his home crowd tomorrow night.

The 22-year-old, from Trowbridge, tops the bill at the Civic Centre against the experienced Max Maxwell, 34, looking to bounce back from his controversial WBA continental middleweight title loss to Max Bursak in Ukraine last month.

Birmingham’s Maxwell (16-28-3) was one of Blackwell’s first sparring partners. ‘Bang Bang’ has once again been getting some world-class preparation under his belt in recent weeks after travelling up to Nottingham to trade blows with Carl Froch ahead of his upcoming WBA and IBF super-middleweight title defence against George Groves.

“I think that it was before my first pro fight or maybe just after I’d had it but I remember going up to Birmingham to spar with Maxwell – obviously, we’re both different fighters now,” said Blackwell.

“He’s going to be tough but I want to try and make a statement and get a stoppage this weekend because he’s never been knocked out. I’m just looking forward to getting back in there, because if it was up to me, I’d fight every week.

“Training’s been spot on and sparring with Carl Froch again was great – I’ve actually got his phone number now so it’s like we’re best friends!

“I’m not too worried about what happened in Ukraine and it seems like a lot of people were impressed by what I did out there. I get messages on Facebook all the time but they’re written in Ukrainian so I’ve got no idea what they say.

“I’m going to keep myself fit over Christmas and when a big opportunity comes up, I’ll be ready for it.”

Blackwell’s promoter PJ Rowson confirmed that tomorrow night’s bout with Maxwell won’t be for a British Masters belt as he expects the Trowbridge fighter to have his hands on the British middleweight belt next year.

“There was no point in having Nick fight for a Masters title because he’s beyond that level,” said Rowson.

“By the end of 2014, Nick will be the British champion.

“The British Boxing Board of Control have tried to get Chris Eubank Jr to fight him in an eliminator twice and Prince Arron too, but they both didn’t want to fight him.

“That means that when Billy Joe Saunders vacates it, Nick will be first in the queue to challenge for it again because there isn’t anyone else.

“Nick’s box office and I’ve said it before but I really think this could be the last time that people in Trowbridge get to see him fight on their doorsteps, because he’s going to be at places like the O2 and the Copper Box.

“He’s got a tough fight on his hands this weekend though because Max Maxwell is going to put up a big challenge for him.”

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