Irish middleweight Eamonn O'Kane has declared that he is confident of upsetting the odds and beating John Ryder this weekend.
O'Kane stepped in at short notice to face Ryder at the London Olympia on Saturday night in a meeting of unbeaten British contenders.
Ryder has earned the respect of his opponent but O'Kane believes that he has what it takes to seize the opportunity.
He said: "We both could have taken easier fights. It is a risk for both of us but the benefits outweigh the risks. For me, that is the way it is.
"Some people choose easier routes but it is good on his part and on mine that we have made this fight. I wanted to fight and this was a chance to get a good fight before Christmas.
"It is a great opportunity. It's certainly not ideal circumstances because you would like three months to prepare but sometimes you just have to grab your chance and that's what I'm going to do."
The domestic dust up has been moved into chief support status on Matchroom Boxing's final bill of the year after a virus forced Lee Purdy to withdraw from his fight with Carson Jones.
Liam Power
