Normanton bareknuckle boxer Matty Hodgson ready to realise his British title dream

The Normanton fighter admits his future was on the line when he faced Ash Gibson in his last contest in November, but he came through it to earn a title shot.

Hodgson was caught cold and was on the floor inside 30 seconds, but showed tremendous reserves of strength and resilience as he picked himself up to go on to force a third-round stoppage of his opponent.

His reward is a shot at the vacant British middleweight championship on Saturday night.

He meets Lawrence Tracey over five rounds at the O2 Arena, in London – and says that everywhere he goes, he sees the knockout specialist from Cheltenham.

Hodgson said: “I have photos of Lawrence all over my house.

“I’ve got one on my fridge and another on my locker at work.

“I go into work and I see his picture first thing in the morning and it winds me up.

“If I’m having a bad day at work I look at his picture and it makes me aggressive and makes me train harder.”

Tracey fought for the British title last year and his fight with Mason Shaw was declared a no contest after Shaw was ruled out with an injury.

The winner of Hodgson-Tracey has to defend against Shaw.

Hodgson said: “It would be unbelievable to be British champion.

“That was always one of my goals.

“I knew if I lost my last fight I may have to take another route.

“He says he will put me away in the first round and I’m ready for that.

“I will take him into the trenches and see how much he has after three or four rounds.

“I think he will gas.”

Hodgson says he will prove that size matters. Tracey is a pocket battleship and Hodgson said: “He’s very confident and cocky, but he has to get close enough to hit me and he’s only got short arms.”