NICK Blackwell says that his high-pressure clash with Jack Arnfield feels like a throwback to the days long before he was one of the country’s top middleweights.

Five months on from getting his hands on the British title with victory over John Ryder, the 25-year-old Trowbridge champion puts his coveted crown on the line for the second time at Bristol’s City Academy tomorrow night, live on Channel 5 (10pm).

In October, unbeaten former Southern Area champion Elliott Matthews was pencilled in to challenge ‘Bang Bang’ Blackwell but the Wiltshire ace is now locking horns with Blackpool’s former Prizefighter competitor Jack Arnfield after Matthews withdrew with injury just eight days before fight night.

Blackwell insists the last-minute upheaval has done little to distract him from the task of defending his hard-earned Lonsdale strap – it’s something all too familiar.

“It’s exactly like early on in my career – that’s what it feels like,” said the Trowbridge middleweight who trains under Gary Lockett in Cardiff.

“Back then, you’d train and be ready and people would say ‘Nick, do you want to fight this person?' You wouldn’t know who it was going to be and then, a few days before, it’d be like ‘oh, that’s who I’m fighting’.

“The opponent changing honestly doesn’t bother me at all. I was preparing for a southpaw and sparring with James DeGale and Jake Ball but I’ve also been sparring with (British super-welterweight title-challenger) Liam Williams and Alex Hughes from the gym, who are orthodox.

“I’d be ready to fight someone like Chris Eubank Jr – that’s how hard I’ve trained.”

Just like when he stopped the then-unbeaten Damon Jones in Derby, in July, the pressure will be firmly on reigning title holder Blackwell in front of the television cameras on Saturday but according to the man himself, that’s little more than par for the course.

Blackwell said: “It’s win-win for the other guy. The pressure’s all on me but I thrive under pressure.

“I’ve done all the hard work and made all the sacrifices and now it’s time for the fun part, which is going out there and fighting.”