Mason Cartwright is aiming to land the first title of his burgeoning career as a big three weekends of boxing for Ellesmere Port fighters kicks off.
The highly rated super welterweight will battle it for a Challenge belt over 10 rounds at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester on Saturday, October 7.
Chester-born Cartwright, who is signed to Frank Warren, has yet to discover who his opponent will be.
However the 25-year-old will be favourite given the storming start he has made to life in the paid ranks.
But ‘Nutty’ will not be taking anything for granted and in the lead up to the clash he has been sparring Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith.
Cartwright, who should find out his opponent this week, said: “Training has been going great and it’s all about getting the rounds out and making sure I can do the 10 under the lights.
“But my fitness has never been in question. I work hard in the gym and I leave no stone unturned so I have no doubt I’ll be able to do it, if it goes to 10.
“It was a great experience sparring with Beefy. I’m not going to get any better than that.
“We’re both come forward fighters and I learned a lot from him because of the standards he’s boxed at, against the likes of (Saul ‘Canelo’) Alvarez (whose world middleweight title fight with Gennady Golovkin ended in a controversial draw at the weekend).
“He knows the tricks, when to go and when to step off the gas, which helps in those later rounds, so it’s been really good.
“There’s some big fights coming up for me. I’ll be boxing in December and then after that there’s been talk of the WBO European (belt). I’m getting there step by step.”
Cartwright has won 10 of his 11 bouts since turning professional with last year’s draw with Justin Menzie still a painful memory.
He said: “It wrecked my head as there was nothing I could do.
“I was clearly winning the fight and I thought I was going to knock him out because every time I hit him his legs trembled and he was scared to come near me.
“We clashed heads and it ended up getting called off because his cut was too bad to continue and it was deemed a technical draw.
“He’s back boxing again and he’s turned me down every time. He got away lightly and I got done over.”
This Saturday (September 23) Matty Fagan takes on Joe Murray in a British title eliminator at the reopened Manchester Arena.
The Saturday after (September 30) Paul Butler headlines a huge show at the Echo Arena in Liverpool when he faces Stuart Hall for a shot at a world title.
And Cartwright, who like Butler and Fagan came through the ranks of Wirral CP Boxing, said: “Fagan’s fight is a massive stepping stone for him and Paul’s world title eliminator is just as important.
“My fight is only for a small title but it’s my first title nevertheless and it’s my first stepping stone.
“We’re all close mates, we all work hard and sacrifice so much. It’d be great if we all got the win.”
