By Terence Dooley

Luke Watkins (13-0, 9 KOs) has had some heavyweight sparring ahead of putting his ‘0’ on the line against fellow unbeaten prospect Lawrence Okolie (8-0, 6 early) at London’s York Hall this evening.  The two meet on Matchroom’s latest JDNNXTGEN show for the Commonwealth cruiserweight belt held by Watkins and Okolie’s WBA Continental title.  Watkins is the underdog, but he has revealed that he learned a lot from sparring Tony Bellew while preparing for this litmus test.

“He educated me in good areas in the gym and you could only take good things from that,” he revealed when speaking to Matthew Davies of the Swindon Advertiser. 

“I came away with confidence from that and I understand the level my body can physically and mentally operate at, which is being in there with the likes of him.”

Okolie represent the UK at the 2016 Olympics and has been tipped for big things in the paid ranks.  Watkins, though, believes that he and trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick, George Groves’s former coach, have laid the groundwork in the gym for an upset win.  “Lawrence himself is the danger, it is the attributes he has,” he admitted.

“It is for me to remain focused and make sure I keep to the gameplan we have in our heads to overcome him.  I've got power and he has got power.  At the end of the day when we are in the ring it is about who can connect.  If I connect with him, I can stop him.  If he connects with me, I'm sure he can stop me but that is the beauty of boxing and we will see what happens.”

Despite it being a big domestic fight, the 28-year-old has vowed to retain his composure once the first bell goes as he knows he will need a cool head if he is to walk away with a win. 

He added: “I always say this, but I am only ever excited after the fight, not before.  That is when you can let all the emotions out.  Any professional sportsman will tell you that you can't get ahead of yourself.  You can't get too excited beforehand because you don't want that to overspill when you need your performance at its best.  You have got to keep your composure.”

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