Martin J Ward has set his sights on a European title shot in 2017
Wednesday 23 November 2016 15:44, UK
Martin J Ward hopes to secure a European title shot next year if he successfully defends his British belt against Ronnie Clark at Wembley Arena this weekend.
The 25-year-old claimed the vacant British super-featherweight title with an impressive stoppage win over Andy Townend in September and makes his first defence against Clark this Saturday night, live on Sky Sports.
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After climbing the domestic rankings, Ward is keen to test himself at a higher level and has set his sights on European champion Guillaume Frenois.
"I would love to win the British outright and then fight for the European straight away," Ward told Sky Sports.
"I think I'm No 2 or No 3 in Europe, so it's not far away. After I do what I'm going to do, I can look forward to these sort of fights in the future, but all eyes are on Saturday now and Ronnie Clark."
Ward has revealed that a "few fighters" turned down the opportunity to challenge him and is full of respect for his Scottish opponent.
"I'm expecting a tough test from him," said Ward. "Fair play to the kid, he's game and has taken the fight. I had a bit of trouble getting opposition. A few did turn it down, but he's stepped up to the plate.
"He's definitely worthy of it, he's a good tough fighter. He's coming to win and it should make for an exciting fight."
The Brentwood man competes in a star-filled division that includes the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters who battle for the WBO belt in Las Vegas on Saturday night, while fellow Brit Stephen Smith suffered a recent points defeat to Jason Sosa.
"Smith has been really unlucky, he's come up against two good world champions," said Ward. "He put up a great show and I was gutted for him.
"They are all great fighters, so you must have an extra bit about you. It's an exciting division and it's a great division to be in.
"To be a world champion, you've got to be a great fighter. You've got to put it all together, boxing, fighting, and everything. When you go up against world opposition, you need all that in your tool box to pull it out of the bag."
Watch Martin J Ward v Ronnie Clark, Katie Taylor v Karina Kopinska, Ohara Davies v Andrea Scarpa and Ben Hall v Carson Jones on a busy Wembley bill, with live coverage starting at 8pm on Sky Sports 2.
