CARL Dickens looks set for a rematch of his thrilling fight against James Child when he steps into the ring for his fifth professional fight at Villa Park’s Holte Suite on Saturday night.
The Redditch middleweight has won all four of his professional bouts to date, but the third was a brutal battle against Brighton’s Child, although ‘The Wallop’ was a clear winner.
The Winyates East fighter had been due to face Londonder Joe Ryan Walsh but the latter has had to withdraw from the contest and, as The Standard went to press, it was expected that Child would be his opponent in Birmingham.
It means Dickens will be up against another southpaw in the shape of Child, having been due to face an orthodox boxer, but both Dickens and his trainer Gary Blower of Birmingham’s Studio ABC are unconcerned.
Dickens, whose main sponsor is Birmingham-based Passion VIP but who is also now generously backed by IDM Electrical of Redditch and Iconic Menswear of Sutton Coldfield, revealed he is in the fittest condition he has ever been.
“I am totally raring to go. I’ve never been fitter and my recovery rate between rounds in sparring has been brilliant,” said Dickens.
“I can’t wait for Saturday now, back at Villa Park, with all my fans behind me again after selling all my tickets.
“We’ve had to change a few things in training after hearing of the change of opponent, but I’ve got good experience of fighting southpaws now so it’s not a problem. I’ve had a good week this week building up to the fight and my fitness is fantastic.”
Trainer Blower echoed those sentiments and believes Dickens is well placed to maintain his 100 per cent professional record as long as he executes the plans the pair have worked on.
“Carl’s fitness is superb, his sparring has been excellent, he’s had a tremendous work ethic as usual in training and his recovery rate between rounds has been phenomenal,” said Blower.
“The change of opponent isn’t ideal but we’ve adjusted for this and it promises to be a great fight for the fans to enjoy as the last bout between the two was a real battle, although Carl was the better boxer.
“Child is tall, strong and physical, but Carl’s got his plans and is technically a better fighter than when they last met in March.
“This is another four-round fight, but we’ll be looking to move Carl up to six rounds in the new year and then, all being well, on to a Masters eight-round contest. We’d then be looking at a Midlands title perhaps, so Carl has some real targets in front of him to aim at.”
