NICK Blackwell is anticipating that his British middleweight title defence against Damon Jones next month could prove a more difficult fight to win that his clash with John Ryder.

Trowbridge’s Blackwell achieved his dream of becoming a British champion by bringing the rock-solid Ryder to a halt at London’s O2 Arena in May and makes the first defence of his belt against the unbeaten Jones at the Derby Arena on July 25, with the bout broadcast live on Channel 5.

Leeds’ Jones, 22, won a senior ABA title at the age of just 17 and whilst 24-year-old Blackwell is well aware of the dangers his opponent possesses, he expects his stamina to make the difference in Derby.

“He's unbeaten and he probably feels like he's got nothing to lose,” said Blackwell.

“If he wins this fight, the floodgates will open and he can do big things in his career.

“But that's not going to happen. If he thinks I'm overlooking him or not training hard for this fight, he's got that totally wrong. I've been training as hard for this fight as I did for the John Ryder fight and, in my mind, this fight with Jones is every bit as important, if not more so.

“I'm not underestimating Jones at all. I think it will be a trickier fight than the John Ryder fight.

“He's a good technical boxer and he's going to try and outbox me but he has holes in his game that I think I can exploit.

“He's never gone past six rounds, for example, and I'm the sort of fighter who gets stronger and stronger as the fight goes on. I'm going to put him in positions that he's never been in before. It will be interesting to see how he copes with it.

“He might hit me with the odd shot, but I'm going to keep coming forward, keep working, keep catching him and eventually I'll break him.”