By Alistair Hendrie

Following a hard fought win against Luke Wilton last weekend, the undefeated British and Commonwealth flyweight champion Kevin Satchell rubbished speculation over a fight with super-flyweight Paul Butler.

Satchell is instead targeting a shot at European titlist Silvio Olteanu, and dismissed the links with Butler as pure hearsay.

“Like my manager Steve Wood said: why would either of us move weights when we are both doing so well?” asked Satchell. “There’s absolutely no truth in it.

"It's a good fight and will probably happen somewhere down the line, but we should both stick to our own weights for now and try to achieve as much as we possibly can.”

It’s no surprise Satchell and Wood feel their destiny is in their own hands. The approachable, down-to-earth scouser has already cleared out his division domestically and more to the point, his coach John Stevenson believes a shot at the European title is inevitable.

“He really thinks I’m ready and so do all the other boys in the gym,” revealed Satchell. “Olteanu is 35 now so he’s there for the taking. I haven’t seen much of him if I’m honest because I don’t even watch much boxing.

“It’s like with Wilton, I only watched a round or two before. I don’t like to get too bogged down with what my opponent is doing. I’d rather have him worry about me and then my coaches can think about creating a gameplan and tactics.”

Although Satchell didn’t study Wilton during his fight camp, he will certainly be familiar with the Northern Irishman by now. The challenger adopted cavalier tactics and marched forwards in straight lines, much to the surprise of many sceptics who had previously written off his chances.

Tellingly, Satchell agreed with the bookmakers’ odds prior to the fight. “I was the same as everyone else and expected that I would get him out of there when I started loading up on shots.  He just kept getting tougher and tougher and kept coming back.”

Satchell utilised a quick jab, hurtful single shots and awkward angles to battle past his opponent. He won most of the rounds, no doubt, but was surprised by Wilton’s punch resistance and spirit.

“He gave it everything he had. I really thought he was going to go in the eighth round. He was sitting there, propped up on the ropes, and I hit him with some great shots to the head and body. Even then, he just kept throwing punches back.

“When we were up close,” Satchell remembered, “we were both throwing big bombs and that caused a few headbutts. I had a few stitches after I cut my eyebrow and my face is still very badly bruised but everything should be okay.”

Despite acquiring a few unwanted souvenirs for his efforts, Satchell was pleased with a hard night’s work, proclaiming: “I’m happy for the most part because I stuck to what my trainers were telling me and kept him on the end of my jab. Wilton clearly did his homework and for me to come out on top when he gave it his best, I’m very happy with that.”