PROMOTER Mick Hennessy has reiterated his belief that Trowbridge’s Nick Blackwell has the potential to one day become a world champion.

Blackwell, 24, defends his British middleweight title against unbeaten challenger Damon Jones at the Derby Arena on Saturday night, with the bout broadcast live on Channel 5 (10pm).

After defeating John Ryder at London’s O2 Arena to claim the Lonsdale strap in May and with former opponent Martin Murray stepping up to super-middleweight, ‘Bang Bang’ is sitting pretty in third in the British rankings and Hennessy thinks that the only way is up for his fighter.

“The fights are going to get harder for Nick but at the same time, things are going to get easier for him because he’s the British champion and he’s not the away fighter anymore,” Hennessy told the Wiltshire Times.

“I still believe that he can be the British, European and Commonwealth champion, and one day, a world champion.

“He’s got the all-round package and we can’t forget that Nick is still only 24, which is very young in professional terms.

“He’s still going to have a tough fight on Saturday. Damon Jones is a good, awkward fighter – it’s for the British title, so you have to expect a tough fight.”

Meanwhile, with his 13-0 opponent having never gone past six rounds in his professional career, Blackwell (17-3-1) is backing his stamina to prove a decisive factor in Derby.

“He would be silly to come at me straight away. That would play right into my hands,” said the British champion.

“He’ll have to try and come in and out and box me – doing that for 12 rounds can be so tiring.

“I’m going to put him in positions he’s never been in before and eventually, I’ll catch him.

“Southpaws are tricky and can be tough to look good against but I want to try and look as good as I can and I won’t be taking him lightly at all.”

Blackwell added: “I want to try and defend the British title three times so that I win it outright and after that, I’ll think about challenging at world level.

“I know that I’m knocking on the door but I’m still a little bit away from it, so maybe in a year or something like that. I’m still only 24, so I’ve got plenty of time on my side.”

Follow all the news & reaction from the Blackwell v Jones fight on Saturday live at wiltshiretimes.co.uk/sport and on Twitter @WTSport