Brian Phillips is determined to show he belongs on the big shows when he faces Rhys Edwards on Saturday night.
Phillips will be returning to the ring for the first time since his points defeat to Michael Gomez Jnr for the Central Area super-featherweight title back in October.
The fight will be on the undercard of Lawrence Okolie’s world cruiserweight title clash against David Light at the AO Arena in Manchester, and the former Archbishop Beck pupil is relishing the prospect of putting on a show.
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“I had a little Christmas off and then I came back to the gym and haven’t been away,” he tells the ECHO when asked about his preparations for the fight.
“This is where I am meant to be. I’m not taken aback by it, I am meant to be on these big shows. I can’t wait to soak it up and do what I am meant to do. The plan is to put a good show on and open a few doors for myself and push on.”
Gomez, ironically, will himself be fighting on the same undercard on Saturday night, and although he was beaten at the Oldham Leisure Centre, Phillips only has positives to take from the fight.
“My camp going into the Michael Gomez Jr fight was terrible compared to this camp,” he reveals. "This one has gone good. No niggles, no knocks, no nothing.
"There is nothing in the back of my mind going into the fight. There are loads that go into a camp. No even in the gym, when you get home and you have got daily life, it is just basic stuff and it all adds up.
"But everything from that [Gomez] fight I take as a positive and there are a lot of positives from it.”
Phillips’ fight will be the second of what promises to be a massive double-header for his Kirkdale ABC gym, with stablemate Nathan Bennett fighting in an English title eliminator on Friday night.
“The gym is buzzing,” he says. “Me and Nathan both in big fights, big boy fights. He’s in a 10 rounder English title eliminator and I’m in an eight round on a big show.
“But that is exactly where we need to be at this stage of our careers. That is what we have always wanted to do. So we have got to soak it up, enjoy it and that’s what we will do. It will be a good weekend for the gym.”
And when asked about the threat of Edwards, Phillips replies: “I haven’t looked at him. I really don’t care. If the best version of me comes, there is no Rhys Edwards. It is all about me in there.”
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