Sutcliffe one step from IBF Inter-Continental crown

PHILIP Sutcliffe Jnr will be hoping he emerges from Saturday night’s clash with Josh Leather in the First Direct Arena in Leeds sporting the IBF Inter-Continental Super Lightweight belt.

Victory would also propel the Crumlin man in among the top 15 of the IBF World rankings and certainly put him on the radar of other major boxing organisations.

He locks horns with his unbeaten English opponent for the vacant strap confident in his meticulous preparation for the challenge.

“Training has gone very well,” Sutcliffe told The Echo. I’ve had seven-and-a-half weeks to prepare, which is the longest I’ve had to get ready for a fight, and I’ve left no stone unturned.

“I’ve seen a few of his [Leather’s] fights and we’ve worked out a couple of plans to deal with him.

“He’s a forward-backwards boxer as I like to say. He’s a very clever fighter with good hand speed.

“I don’t know how heavy those hands are, but that won’t bother me. I’ve been there before.

“I’ve had a great camp. My strength and conditioning camp has been really good. I was over in the MTK Gym in Scotland where I sparred some very good boxers, so I feel I’m fully prepared.

“This fight will be over 12 rounds, but I’m super fit and I’ll have no problem in going the distance, that’s if it does go the distance,” he added.

While Leather has yet to taste defeat after 11 professional bouts, Sutcliffe, himself, boasts an impressive pro record of just one loss in 14.

That one blemish came at the hands of Anthony Yigit in Hamburg just over a year ago, but Sutcliffe has won all four outings since then, half of them coming by way of knockout.

Still he regards his epic points victory over Welshman Chris Jenkins in Belfast last November as his most valuable yet and one that should serve him well as he prepares for this weekend’s title bid.

“That fight was the one that will really stand to me” he insisted.

“It was a great battle. I had underestimated Jenkins a little and I’ve learned from that. I won’t be underestimating any opponents.

“There were also some elements in my preparation for that fight which I’ve changed for this one. So that’s helped me too,” he explained.