BRAD ON THE BASH IN BILBAO

Good luck to Bradley Skeete for tonight when he steps out in Bilbao to fight for the European welterweight title against Kerman Lejarraga, live on BoxNation. It is the British champion’s maiden overseas voyage as a pro and he updates us on his Spanish sojourn in his latest Fighter Diary…

FIGHTER DIARY BY BRADLEY SKEETE

FIGHT WEEK IN a foreign country has all gone well and there has been no chance to get bored with Al (trainer, Smith) running around jumping on beds and wotnot!

There has not been a lot going on outside of a bit of media stuff, so I have just been keeping control of my weight and chilling in the hotel. I am enjoying it, it feels good and I’ve got a good feeling about this weekend.

Being the overseas fighter is a bit weird when it comes to press conferences because it is me that had the interpreter for a change, but it is just the same old questions really.

From what I have seen there is not too much evidence of the big fight happening in terms of posters and stuff from having a little walk around town, but I didn’t stay out for too long otherwise I might have started getting chased around!

I would put this fight up there with my one against Sam Eggington as my biggest fight so far. No disrespect to the British domestic scene, but this is a big title fight away from home against an undefeated fighter with a big KO ratio.

So this is definitely one of my top fights. Taking on fights like this grow you as a fighter and this is the first time I have boxed abroad as a professional and I am looking at this as a stepping stone for the future.

I believe I will be successful and I am sure when it comes to fighting for a world title it will probably be away from home again, so this is all preparation and experience for the future.

I have not got my home comforts but I have got good people around me and it doesn’t feel like I am away from home, to be honest. I am comfortable and happy, my family have come over and I sold 50 tickets for people to come over to Spain. Some people don’t even sell that in England when they are fighting at home.

With Sam Eggington being my last biggest fight it is a bit of an irony that he has played a big part in helping me prepare for this one. Sam and Jon Pegg were the first people to contact me when the fight got announced, offering to help out with sparring, and it has been great.

I went up to Birmingham and he came down to me and we had some brilliant rounds. You just can’t beat that level of sparring and, for this fight, with Sam having moved up in weight and being big and strong, it was just what I needed.

I would like to say a big thank you to Sam and his trainer Jon.

I saw Frankie Gavin piped up on Twitter the other day chasing a fight with me if I win on Saturday… How can you chase a fight with someone you have beaten?

I would gain absolutely nothing from fighting him now. I’m ranked No.1 in Britain and have got a world ranking with different governing bodies. He has got no belts and no nothing.

If he got made mandatory I would box him, but I can’t see why he would because he has done nothing to get there. I would happily fight him because he is a loss on my record that I didn’t think I lost, but he really doesn’t deserve the opportunity.

It does nothing for me because everyone would be expecting me to win anyway. When I won people would say I should win anyway and what am I fighting him for.

I am about moving forwards not backwards.

My mind is on Kerman Lejarraga and I believe it is going to be a tough fight. He is unbeaten, fighting in his home town and will have everything in his favour with the crowd.

He is obviously unbeaten for a reason and his record suggests he can punch. However, I think his style is made for me and I believe I can beat him and beat him well.

I have said before that I believe I am a world class fighter and, this being the case, I have to beat people like him.

No disrespect, but I want to win this European title and move on to the world scene. To do this I need to be beating people like him in a good fashion.

Don’t get me wrong, there are good fights to be had at European level,  but I want to achieve my dream of fighting for a world title. I am not saying I will jump straight in with the likes of Spence or Thurman, but I want to get in meaningful fights so that when the opportunity comes I can grab it with both hands.